NewCentury 
Bible 


Ezra 

Nehemiah 

Esther 


Dwisioa.      R 
Set.  tioa ' 


THE   NEW-CENTURY   BIBLE 

*GENESIS,  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  W.  H.  Bennett,  Litt.D.,  D.D. 
*EXODUS,  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  W.  II.  Benmett,  Litt.D.,  D.D. 

LEVITICUS  AND  NUMBERS,  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  A.  R.  S.  Kennedy,  M.A.,  D.D. 
^DEUTERONOMY  AND  JOSHUA,  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  H.  WHEKt^ER  Robinson, 

M.A. 
^JUDGES  AND  RUTH,  by  the  Rev.  G.  W.  Thatcher,  M.A.,  B.D. 
M  AND  II  SAMUEL,  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  A.  R.  S.  Kennedy,  M.A.,  D.IX 
*I  and  II  KINGS,  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  Skinner,  D.D. 

*I  AND  II  CHRONICLES,  by  the  Rev.  W.  Harvey-Jelt.ie,  M.A.,  B.D. 
*EZRA,  NEHEMIAH,  AND  ESTHER,  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  T.  WiTTON  DAVIES, 
-       B.A.,  Ph.D. 

^JOB,  by  Prof.  A.  S.  Peake,  M.A.,D.D. 

^PSALMS  (Vol.  I)  I  TO  LXXII,  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  DAVISON,  M.A.,  D.D. 
*PSALMS  (Vol.  II)  LXXIII  TO  END,  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  T,  WiTTON  Davies, 

B.A.,  Ph.D. 
*PROVERBS,    ECCLESL\STES,    and    SONG    OF    SOLOMON,     by   the 

Rev.  Prof.  G.  CuRRiE  MARTIN,  M.A.,  B.D. 
*ISAIAH  I-XXXIX,  by  the  Rev.  OWEN  C.  Whitehguse.M.A.,  D.D. 
*1SAIAH  XI^LXVI,  by  the  Rev.  Owen  C.  Whitehouse,  AI.A.,  D.D. 

JEREMIAH  AND  LAMENTATIONS,  by  Prof,  A.  S.  Peake,  M.A.,  D.D. 
*EZEKIEL,  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  W.  F.  Lofthouse,  M.A. 

DANIEL,  by  the  Rev,  Prof.  R,  H.  Charles,  D.D. 
*MINOR  PROPHETS:  HosEA,  JOEL,  Amos,  Oisadiah,  Jonah,  Micah,  by  the 

Rev.  R.  F.  Horton,  M.A.,  D.D. 
*MINOR  PROPHETS:  Nahum,  Habakkuk,  Zephaniah,  Haggai,  Zechariah. 
Mal.^chi,   by  the    Rev.  Canon  Driver,  Litt.D., D.D. 

*i.  MATTHEW,  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  W.  F.  Slater,  M.A. 

*2.  MARK,  by  the  late  Principal  Salmond,  D.D. 

*3.  LUKE,  by  Principal  W.  F.  Adeney,  M.A.,  D.D. 

*4.  JOHN,  by  the  Rev.  J.  A.  McClymont,  D.D. 

=•:;.  ACTS,  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  J,  Vernon  Bartlet,  M.A.,  D.D, 

»6.  ROMANS,  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  A.  E.  Garvie,  M.A.,  D.D. 

*7.  1  and  II  CORINTHIANS,  by  Prof.  J.  Massie,  M.A.,  D.D. 

»8.  EPHESIANS,    COLOSSIANS,    PHILEMON,    PHILIPPIANS,    by  the 
Rev.  Prof.  G.  CuRRiE  Martin,  M.A.,  B.D. 

*Q    I  AND  II  THESSALONIANS,  GALATIANS,  by  Principal  W.  F.  Adeney, 

M.A.,  D.D. 
"lo.  THE  PASTORAL  EPISTLES,  by  the  Rev.  R.  F.  Horton,  M.A  ,  D.D. 
»u,  HEBREWS,  by  Prof.  A.  S.  Peake,  M.A.,  D.D. 
^12.  THE  GENERAL  EPISTLES,  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  W.  H.  Bennett,  Litt.D., 

D.D. 
•13.  REVELATION,  by  the  Rev.  Prof.  C.  ANDERSON  Scott,  M.A,,  D  D. 

[Those  marked*  are  already  published.'] 


THE  NEW-CENTURY  BIBLE 

EZRA,  NEHEMIAH  AND 
ESTHER 


OXFORD 

HORACE    HARI,    1  RINTER   TO   THE   UNIVERSITY 


He  Etlinlraprfh.  Grogtogjlucal  InfitLtote 


TiUa 

-Tho 


300 

on  to  JerusaJem 


Coj*yr.igiit  —  JoWJiartLolomflrwA  Co.. 


Edinburgh. 


General  Editor  : 
Principal  Walter  F.  Adeney,  M.A.,  D.D, 


<BxtA,  (Tle^emia^  anb 


"^        '       APR    2  1912 


v^  ^ 


INTRODUCTION 

REVISED  VERSION  V^ITH  NOTES 

MAPS  AND  INDEX 


REV.T.  WITTON  DAVIES,  B.A.,  Ph.D.,  D.D. 

PROFESSOR  OF  SEMITIC  LANGUAGES,    UNIVERSITY  COLLEGE  OF 

NORTH  WALES,    BANGOR  ;    LATE  PRINCIPAL  MIDLAND 

BAPTIST  COLLEGE,    NOTTINGHAM 


NEW  YORK:  HENRY FROWDE 

OXFORD   UNIVERSITY    PRESS,   AMERICAN  BRANCH 

EDINBURGH  :  T.  C.  &  E.  C.  JACK 


The  Revised  Versioa'  is  printed  by  permission  of  the 
Universities  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge 


PREFATORY  NOTE 

The  author  desires  to  express  his  warmest  thanks 
to  his  fellow  countryman  and  former  teacher^  the 
Rev.  A.  H.  Sayce,  D.Litt.,  LL.D.,  D.D.  of  Oxford, 
and  to  his  former  pupil,  the  Rev.  G.  G.  V.  Stone- 
house,  M.A.,  Vice-Principal  and  Lecturer  in  Old 
Testament  Exegesis,  Scottish  Episcopal  College 
(Coates  Hall),  Edinburgh,  for  reading  the  proof- 
sheets  and  making  valuable  suggestions.  It  is 
but  fair  to  add  that  the  Index  is^  for  the  most  part, 
the  work  of  the  author's  daughter. 


CONTENTS 

EZRA   AND   NEHEMIAH 

PAGE 

A.  Introduction  to  Ezra  and  Nehf.miah  : 

I,  Name,  Place  in  the  Canon  .....  3 

II.   Contents 4 

III.  Tlie  Book  of  the  Torah  read  by  Ezra    ...  8 

IV.  Principal  Sources  .  .         .         .         .  .11 

V.  Date 18 

VI.  Recent  Discussions      ......  21 

VII.  Contemporary  Literature      .....  30 

VIII.  Comparative  Dates,  Jewish,  &c.  ....  32 

Abbreviations,  Literature  used,  &c.      •         •         .  35 

B.  Ezra,  Text  of  the  Revised  Version  with  Annota- 

tions             39 

C.  Nehemiah,  Text    of    the   Revised  Version   with 

Annotations 159 

ESTHER 

A.  Introduction  : 

I.   Name  of  Book 291 

II.  Place  in  the  Canon        ....,,  291 

Apocr3'phal  Additions  ......  294 

III.  Abstract  of  Contents      ......  295 

IV.  Aim  and  Character  of  the  Book    ....  296 

V.   Unity  and  Integrity      ....                   .  298 

VI.  Date  and  Authorship     ......  299 

VI L  The  Feast  Purim  and  the  Word  '  Pur  '          .         .  301 

Literature     .......          .  305 

B.  Text  of  the  Revis.'^.d  Version  with  Annotations    .  306 

C.  Additional  Notes  : 

1.  Was  Cyrus  a  Zoroastrian  ?  .....  360 

2.  Were  the  early  Persian  Kings  tolerant?       .          .  362 

3.  Note  to  Ezra  VIII.  21 363 

4.  Note  to  Esther  II.   12-15  ^ 363 

INDEX 365 

MAPS   AND   PLAN 

"1.   Map  of  Transpotamia,  &c.     .         .  .  facing  tith-page 

2,  Map  of  Province  of  Judah.  &c.     .  ,,  p.    39 

3.  Plan  of  Jerusalem           .          ...          ,,         p.  159 


EZRA  AND   NEHEMIAH 

INTRODUCTION 

AND 

REVISED   VERSION   WITH   ANNOTATIONS 


EZRA   AND    NEHEMIAH 

INTRODUCTION 

I.  Name,  Place  in  Canon. 

Ezra  and  Nehemiah  are  treated  as  one  book  with  the 
name  'Ezra'  in  the  Talmud^, the  Massorah,  in  the  LXX  (B) 
(Esdras  (B)),  in  Josephus -,  and  in  the  early  Christian 
Church.  Origen  in  his  Hexapla  was  the  first  to  divide 
this  one  work  into  two,  but  the  first  to  give  the  second  part 
the  name  '  Nehemiah '  was  Jerome,  according  to  Sayce  ^ 
and  Ryle,  though  Baudissin^  says  it  is  due  to  late  MSS, 
of  the  LXX. 

In  the  Jewish  Canon,  as  represented  by  our  Hebrew 
Bible,  Ezra-Nehemiah  and  Chronicles  (reckoned  as  one 
book)  are  the  two  last  books  in  the  third  division  {Ketubim 
or  writings,  also  called  Hagiographa),  and  therefore  in 
the  Hebrew  Old  Testament.  In  the  English,  Welsh,  &c., 
Bible,  Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  counted  as  two  books,  appear 
after  Samuel,  Kings,  and  Chronicles,  and  before  Esther. 
It  is  impossible  to  say  for  certain  when  Ezra-Nehemiah 
was  received  into  the  Canon  of  the  Old  Testament. 
Ryle  ^  thinks  that  every  book  now  in  the  Kettibiin  must 
have  found  its  way  into  the  Jewish  Canon  between 
160-109  B.  C.  His  evidence  for  this  conclusion  is  cumula- 
tive, but  it  is  by  no  means  decisive.  He  does  not  advance 
a  single  argument  that  settles  the  matter  beyond  contro- 
versy, nor  can  the  sum  total  of  his  arguments  be  said  to 
do  this.  It  cannot  be  proved  definitely  that  our  Hebrew 
Bible  was  recognized  as  canonical  by  the  Synod  of  Jamnia 
(a.  d.  90).  By  about  a.  d.  200  the  whole  of  the  Hebrew 
Bible  as  we  know  it  must  have  been  recognized  as  canoni- 

'  Baba  Bathra,  15^.  2  Contra  Ap.  i.  8,  &c. 

■'  Ezra  and  Neherniah^  p.  28.  *  Einleitiitig,  p.  264. 

5   The  Canon  of  the  Old  Testament  ^'^^j  129  ft; 
B  2 


4  EZRA  AND    NEHEMIAH 

cal,  for  the  Mishnah  implies  that,  and  we  seem  justified  in 
believing  that  in  A.  D.  200  the  Mishnah  existed  complete, 
though  no  documentary  witness  certifies  to  the  existence 
of  a  written  Mishnah  until  some  centuries  later. 

Though  it  is  the  prevailing  opinion  among  modern 
scholars,  especially  since  the  time  of  Zunz  ^,  that  originally 
Chronicles-Ezra-Nehemiah  formed  but  one  continuous 
book,  compiled,  and  in  part  composed,  by  one  man,  named 
the  Chronicler,  or  by  more  than  one  belonging  to  the 
same  school,  there  is  not  an  atom  of  evidence  in  ancient 
Codices,  Versions,  or  Editions,  that  these  three  books 
were  counted  as  one,  though  there  is  ample  evidence  that 
Ezra-Nehemiah  was  reckoned  as  one.  See  further  under 
'  Sources,'  &c.,  pp.  12  ff.  The  duplication  of  Ezra  i.  1-3* 
at  the  close  of  2  Chronicles  is  due  to  a  late  editor  who 
wished  to  explain  when  and  how  the  seventy  years  of  the 
preceding  verse  came  to  an  end. 

II.  The  Contents  of  Ezra-Nehemiah. 

The  following  analysis  rests  on  the  general  assumption 
that  the  present  order  of  the  chapters  and  verses  in  Ezra- 
Nehemiah  is  in  the  main  at  once  genuine  and  authentic, 
though  in  some  of  its  details  the  text  has  suffered  at  the 
hands  of  copyists  and  editors. 
Ezra. 

The  book  of  Ezra  falls  naturally  into  two  main  divisions. 
Chaps,  i-vi  speak  of  the  period  from  the  arrival  at  Jeru- 
salem of  Zerubbabei  and  Joshua  and  their  fellow  exiles  to 
the  completion  and  dedication  of  the  Temple,  i.e.  from 
537  to  516.  In  chaps,  vii-x  we  have  a  record  of  the  ar- 
rival from  Babylon  of  Ezra  and  his  caravan,  and  of  the 
work  which  Ezra  did,  all  comprehended  in  something 
over  a  single  year  (458-457  B.  c).  Of  the  sixty  or  fifty  years 
that  elapsed  between  the  events  of  chaps,  vi  and  vii  we 
know  practically  nothing,  though  some  records  of  this 
interval  must  at  one  time  have  existed,  perhaps  incor- 
porated in  the  original  draft  of  Ezra-Nehemiah. 

1  Gottes  Vortrage  («),  28  ff. 


INTRODUCTION 


i-vi.  First  part  of  Ezra :  from  the  return  to  the 
dedicati07i  of  the  Temple,  537-516  B.C. 

i.  Cyrus,  having  conquered  Babylon,  permits  the  Jewish 
exiles  in  that  country  to  return  to  Jerusalem  to  rebuild 
their  Temple  and  reorganize  their  religious  institutions, 
restoring  to  them  the  Temple  vessels  removed  by  Nebu- 
chadnezzar in  586  B.  c. 

ii  (i  Esdras  v.  7-45).  A  list  of  those  who  accepted 
the  royal  offer,  over  40,000  in  all. 

iii  (i  Esdras  v.  47-65).  Resumption  of  the  religious 
life  of  the  nation:  building  and  dedication  of  the  Altar 
(1-3)  ;  observance  of  Tabernacles  and  other  feasts  (4-7) ; 
foundation  of  the  Temple  laid  (8-13),  537-6  B.C. 

iv.  1-5,  24  (i  Esdras  v.  66-73).  The  Jews  refuse  the  offer 
of  the  Samaritans  to  co-operate  with  them  in  the  work  of 
rebuilding  the  Temple,  whereupon  the  Samaritans  stead- 
fastly oppose  the  work,  which  therefore  remained  at  a 
standstill  from  536  to  516  (twenty  years). 

The  section  iv.  7-23  (i  Esdras  ii.  15-25)  (ver.  6  is  an 
interpolation,  see  note  on)  belongs  to  the  history  of  the 
building  of  the  walls,  and  has  its  right  place  between 
Ezra  i  and  Neh.  i,  or  (Torrey,  Kent)  after  Neh.  vi. 

v.  if  (i  Esdras  vi.  i  f).  The  building  of  the  Temple  re- 
sumed through  the  preaching  of  the  prophets  Haggai  and 
Zechariah  (520  B.  c). 

V.  3-vi.  12  (i  Esdras  vi.  3-34)-  Unsuccessful  opposi- 
tion of  the  Persian  officials  to  the  building  (520-15  B.C.). 

V.  3-5.  The  Persian  officials  make  inquiries  of  the 
builders. 

V.  6-vi.  12.  Correspondence  between  them  and  King 
Darius  resulting  in  a  royal  decree  author'zing  the  Jews  to 
proceed  with  the  building. 

vi.  12-18  (i  Esdras  vii.  i-ii).  Completion  and  dedica- 
tion of  the  Temple  (516  B.  c). 

vi.  19-22  (i  Esdras  vii.  12-15).  The  keeping  of  the 
Passover. 


6  EZRA  AND   NEHEMIAH 

Second  part  of  Ezra  ;  vii-x  (i  Esdras  viii-ix.  36)  .• 
Ezra's  arrival  at  Jericsalem  and  his  work. 

To  these  chapters  must  be  added  Neh.  vii.  73^-x.  39, 
which  describe  the  activity  of  Ezra  and  are  silent  about 
Nehemiah,  though  his  name  has  by  mistake  found  its  way 
into  Nehemiah  (458-457  (or  456,  or  455)  B.  c). 

Between  the  time  imphed  at  the  end  of  ch.  vi  and  the 
beginning  of  ch.  vii  there  is  an  interval  of  about  sixty 
years,  about  which  the  Old  Testament  is  almost,  if  not 
quite,  silent.  Nor  do  the  recently  found  Aramaic  papyri 
throw  any  light  on  this  period,  as  they  belong  to  a  some- 
what later  date. 

vii  (i  Esdras  viii.  1-27).  Journey  of  Ezra  and  his  party 
from  Babylon  to  Jerusalem,  bringing  from  Artaxerxes  I 
(Longimanus)  a  commission  authorizing  the  reorganiza- 
tion of  Judaism. 

viii.  1-14(1  Esdras  viii.  28-40).  List  of  those  who  return. 

viii.  15-36(1  Esdras  viii.  41-64  (66)).  The  assembling  of 
the  party  by  the  river  Ahava  ;  incidents  of  the  journey  ;  the 
arrival. 

ix  (i  Esdras  viii.  68-90).  Ezra's  grief  on  hearing  that 
some  Jews  were  married  to  foreign  wives  (1-5) ;  his  con- 
fession and  prayer  (6-1 5). 

x  (i  Esdras  viii.  91-ix.  36).  Measures  taken  to  put  an 
end  to  the  mixed  marriages. 

See  also  the  analysis  of  Neh.  viii.  73b-x  in  its  place 
under  Nehemiah,  though  this  section  belongs  strictly  to 
the  life  of  Ezra  and,  therefore,  to  the  book  so  called. 

The  history  of  Ezra  breaks  off  suddenly  and  of  his  end 
we  have  no  certain  information:  see  p.  155  ff. 

Nehemiah. 

In  this  book  we  have  a  narrative  of  Nehemlah's  life 
from  the  time  he  received  the  king's  permission  to  visit 
his  people  at  Jerusalem  (i)  to  his  second  visit  (xiii). 

In  i-vii.  5,  with  which  must  probably  go  vii.  6-73^,  we 
have  what  have  been  called  Nehemiah's  memoirs,  called 


INTRODUCTION  7 

by  the  Germans  the  *  I  *  sections,  as  Nehemiah  in  them 
speaks  in  the  first  person. 

vii.  73^'-x  (see  on)  forms  part  of  the  history  of  Ezra, 
and  probably  stood  originally  at  the  end  of  the  Book  of 
Ezra,  forming  part  of  that  book. 

i.  i-li*^.  Nehemiah's  grief  on  hearing  of  the  sad  con- 
dition of  Jerusalem,  and  his  prayer. 

i.  Il^-ii.  Nehemiah,  receiving  the  king's  permission, 
visits  Jerusalem  :  his  inspection  of  the  walls  and  his 
pathetic  impressions. 

iii.  Names  of  those  who  repaired  the  several  parts  of 
the  walls. 

iv.  Opposition  to  the  work  (i-8),  and  the  means  em- 
ployed by  Nehemiah  to  overcome  it  (9-23). 

V.  Social  distress  through  the  hard  treatment  of  the  poor 
by  the  rich  (1-5)  and  how  Nehemiah  remedied  it  (6-13). 
Nehemiah's  own  generosity  (14-19). 

vi.  The  walls  completed  (ver.  15),  notwithstanding  op- 
position from  without  (1-9)  and  treachery  within  (10-19). 

vii.  1-73^  +  xi.  I  f.  and  probably,  in  addition,  the  rest  of 
ch.  xi.  Measures  taken  for  the  defence  of  Jerusalem  (vii. 
1-3)  and  for  the  increase  of  its  population  (vii.  4-xi.  i  flf.). 

vii.  73^-x  (less  certainly  x)  belongs  to  the  history  of 
Ezra,  and  has  its  proper  place  immediately  after  Ezra  x  as 
a  part  of  that  book  :  see  p.  155  ff.  and  introductory  re- 
marks to  vii.  73^.  Ezra  reads  and  expounds  the  law  (vii. 
73^-viii.  8);  commands  the  people  to  rejoice  (viii.  9-1 1)  ; 
Tabernacles  observed  (viii.  12-18) ;  confession  and  prayer 
(ix.  1-37) ;  signatures  to  the  covenant  made  (ix.  38-x.  29) ; 
obligations  assumed  by  the  people  (x.  10-39). 

xi.  I  ff.  Continuation  of  the  history  of  Nehemiah. 

xi.  I  f.  How  the  population  of  Jerusalem  is  increased. 

xi.  3-xii.  26.  Various  lists  of  laymen  and  Temple 
officials. 

xii.  27-43.  Dedication  of  the  walls.  Here  the  first  per- 
son, dropped  after  vii.  5,  is  resumed  (see  verses  31,  38,  40). 

xii.  44-xiii.  31  (end).  Nehemiah's  second  visit  to  Jeru- 
salem fxiii.  6) :   his  later  religious  reforms :  provision  is 


8  EZRA  AND   NEHEMIAH 

made  for  the  support  of  the  Levites  (xii.  44-47 +  xiii,  10-14) 
and  for  the  strict  observance  of  the  Sabbath  (xiii.  15-22) ; 
energetic  protest  against  mixed  marriages  (viii.  23-29) ; 
Nehemiah's  closing  words  (viii.  30  f.). 

III.  The  Book  of  the  Torah,  or  the  Instruction 
Book  Brought,  Read,  and  Expounded  by  Ezra. 

Before  proceeding  to  a  consideration  of  the  sources  on 
which  Ezra-Nehemiah  rests  it  will  be  of  some  service  to 
consider  briefly  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  Law  Book 
brought  by  Ezra  (see  Ezra  vii.  14). 

No  one  now  believes  that  the  whole  of  our  present 
Hebrew  Old  Testament  was  brought  together  and  recog- 
nized as  canonical  by  Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  helped  by  the 
(fictitious)  Great  Synagogue  (see  on  Neh.  viii.  2),  and  per- 
haps by  Malachi,  though  it  was  the  prevailing  opinion 
among  Jew  and  Christian  in  ancient  times,  and  in  recent 
times  was  vigorously  defended  by  Keil  and  Hengstenberg  in 
Germany,  and  by  Archibald  Alexander  and  W.  H.  Green, 
both  of  Princeton,  U.S.A.  It  is  now  agreed  among  all 
scholars  that  many  parts  of  the  Old  Testament  were 
not  even  written  for  some  centuries  after  the  abo'.  e 
period. 

It  used  to  be  largely  held  that  Ezra,  or  one  of  his  pre- 
decessors, was  the  editor  of  the  Hexateuch  (Pentateuch  and 
Joshua),  and  that  it  was  a  copy  of  this  which  Ezra  read. 
But  Ezra  shows  little  or  no  interest  in  the  earlier,  the  so- 
called  prophetic  parts  of  the  Hexateuch,  or  any  acquaint- 
ance with  them.  It  is  to  the  legal  portions  that  Ezra  and 
Nehemiah  hark  back,  especially  to  the  laws  in  Deut.  (D) 
and  Lev.  xvii.  17-26  (H).  The  use  of  the  word  torah, 
translated  '  law,'  proves  nothing  in  the  present  discussion, 
for  though  in  Rabbinical  Hebrew  it  is  the  technical  term 
for  the  Pentateuch,  it  never  has  that  sense  in  the  Old 
Testament,  as  Delitzsch  in  the  last  edition  of  his  Com- 
mentary on  Genesis  (1887)  admitted,  after  having  pre- 
viously  maintained    the   contrary.      The   word  denotes 


INTRODUCTION  9 

strictly  '  instruction,'^  and  is  generally  used  of  what  God 
commands  through  prophets  and  priests. 

Since  the  enactments  of  the  P  code  are  comparatively 
seldom  cited  or  implied  it  is  strange  that  Wellhausen  ', 
Cornill  ^,  and  others  should  hold  that  Ezra's  torah  was 
the  P  code,  though  the  latter  passed  through  later  changes 
and  received  later  additions.  It  is  exceedingly  unlikely 
that  the  P  code  could  have  been  designated  the  '  law  of 
Moses'  (Ezra  vii.  6,  Neh.  viii.  i),  'the  law  of  Yahvveh  ' 
(Ezra  vii.  lo),  'the  law  of  God'  (Ezra  vii.  14,  Neh.  viii.  8, 
&c.),  or  '  all  the  commandments,  ordinances,  and  statutes 
of  Yahvveh '  (Neh.  x.  29). 

Moreover  the  laws  in  Ezra-Nehemiah  are  often  different 
from  those  of  P,  and  belong  to  an  older  stratum  of  the 
national  life.  The  pre-exilic  custom  of  offering  one  whole 
offering  in  the  morning  and  one  cereal  offering  in  the 
evening  is  that  implied  and  followed  in  Neh.  x.  34  (33) 
(see  on).  The  custom  enforced  in  Ezek.  xlvi.  13-15  (both 
offerings  in  the  morning)  and  in  P(Num.  xxviii.  3-8,  both 
offerings  in  the  morning  and  also  in  the  evening)  are 
those  of  a  later  time.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that 
Ezekiel's  code  (xl-xlviii)  was  an  ideal,  a  programme  to  be 
realized  in  after  times.  According  to  P  (Exod.  xxx.  13  ; 
2  Chron.  xxiv.  4  f.,  &c.)  the  poll-tax  for  the  upkeep  of  the 
Temple  is  half  a  shekel.  But  the  law  enforced  by  Ezra  or 
Nehemiah  or  both  makes  the  tax  one-third  of  a  shekel 
(see  Neh.  x.  32  f ,  and  the  note  on). 

Ezra  ix.  6-15  and  Neh.  ix,  which  have  many  resem- 
blances, are  conceived  and  expressed  much  in  the  manner 
of  D  ;  there  is  nothing  of  the  kind  in  P. 

'  Professors  Sayce,  Haupt,  and  Zimmern  (see  if^  T.  (-'''' 606, 
notes)  connect  the  Heb.  torah  with  the  Bab.  tertu  {=  'the 
message  of  a  god  '),  which  in  the  time  of  Hammurabi  had  as- 
sumed the  technical  sense  of  '  a  divinely  revealed  law, 'as  e.g. 
the  Hammurabi  Code.  The  cognate  Bab.  verb  {etii)  means 
*  to  send  a  message.' 

'^  Pro/eg.  Eng.  Ed.  408  ff.;   Geschtchte  ^^\  ^11^' 

3  Introd.  112  ff.  ;  Germ.  Ed.  (5)  58  flf. 


lo  EZRA  AND    NEHEMIAH 

The  law  of  the  Sabbatic  year  in  Neh.  x.  31  (see  on) 
agrees  with  Exod.  xxiii.  10  f.  (JE)  rather  than  with  Lev. 
XXV.  2-7  (H). 

For  other  laws  absent  from  P  yet  found  in  older  codes 
and  referred  to  in  Ezra-Nehemiah  see  on  Neh.  x.  30,  39, 
and  on  many  other  passages  in  the  present  volume. 

Many  laws  and  customs  mentioned  or  implied  have  no 
counterpart  anywhere  in  the  Old  Testament :  see  on  Neh. 
X.  34. 

If  it  was  the  P  code  that  Ezra  published  and  tried  to 
enforce  it  is  strange  that  so  few  of  its  provisions  seem  to 
have  been  realized,  though  the  argumentum  e  silentio  is 
admittedly  a  precarious  one.  The  observance  of  the  Feast 
of  Tabernacles  is  mentioned  twice  in  these  books  (Ezra 
iii.  4-7,  Neh.  viii.  13-18),  both  of  them  falling  within  the 
scope  of  Ezra's  activity  (see  on,  Neh.vii.  73^-x).  Nehemiah, 
otherwise  so  punctilious  about  keeping  the  law,  seems  to 
have  no  concernabout  the  feast.  The  Passover  is  mentioned 
once  only  in  these  books,  viz.  in  Ezra  vi.  19,  but  neither 
Pentecost  (the  Feast  of  Weeks)  nor  the  Day  of  Atonement 
is  even  mentioned.  Stade  ^  tHinks  that  Ezra's  torah  was 
an  enlarged  edition  of  the  Holiness  Code  (H,  Lev.  xvii- 
xxvi),  and  Kuenen"  says  it  must  have  included  this  code. 

But  Geissler  in  his  valuable  monograph  Die  literari- 
scken  Beziehungen  der  EBra-Memoiren  (1899)  has  made 
it  abundantly  evident  that  all  the  Hexateuch  sources  have 
been  drawn  upon  in  Ezra  vii-x,  and  the  present  writer  has 
brought  together  proofs  of  the  same  kind  relating  to  the 
rest  of  Ezra-Nehemiah,  and  is  prevented  by  exigencies 
of  space  alone  from  setting  them  forth  here. 

Ezra's  torah  corresponds  neither  to  our  Pentateuch  nor 
to  the  Hexateuch,  and  still  less  to  any  one  of  the  recog- 
nized Hexateuch  sources  (JE,  D,  P).  It  seems  to  have 
been  a  collection  of  laws  agreeing  mainly  with  the  laws  in 
D  and  H,  and,  in  a  less  degree,  with  those  in  P.  This 
collection  was  probably  made  by  Ezra  himself  from  the 

*  G*sch.  ii.  181.  2  Qgg   Abhandlungen  (Budde),  p.  390. 


INTRODUCTION  ii 

mass  of  histories  and  codes  brought  together  in  Babylon, 
which  at  length  crystalized  into  our  Hexateuch. 

That  this  code  came  to  be  called  the  '  Torah  (  =  Instruc- 
tion Book)  of  Moses  '  ( Ezra  vii.  6}  means  no  more  than 
that  it  rested  upon  a  nucleus  of  law  which  was  rightly 
ascribed  to  the  great  Jewish  lawgiver  himself.  As  time  went 
on  and  the  name  '  Moses  '  gathered  about  it  more  and  more 
halo  it  would  be  natural  to  associate  the  whole  of  the  Five 
Books  with  his  name,  just  as  the  '  Five  Books '  of  the 
Psalter  came  to  be  connected  with  the  name  '  David,'  the 
Moses  of  song.  Indeed,  already  in  the  times  with  which 
we  are  dealing,  the  expression  '  the  Torah  of  Moses,'  '  of 
God,'  or  '  of  Yahweh,'  had  come  to  have  a  somewhat  tech- 
nical sense—'  the  Lawbook  for  the  community  of  Yahweh 
founded  by  Moses.' 

IV.  The  Principal  Sources  of  Ezra-Nehemiah. 

Here  are  to  be  briefly  enumerated  the  principal  mate- 
rials out  of  which,  in  the  opinion  of  the  present  writer,  the 
final  editor  (R,  i.e.  Redactor)  wove  the  existing  narrative, 
not  omitting  the  part  contributed  by  the  editor  himself. 
It  is  not  necessary  in  this  place  to  consider  the  complex 
code  {toraJi)  according  to  which  both  Ezra  and  Nehemiah 
sought  to  act  and  to  make  others  act  (see  §  3).  This  be- 
came a  part  of  the  history  which  Ezra-Nehemiah  contains, 
and  is  involved  in  that  history.  It  is  quite  evident  that 
these  books  are  more  or  less  compilations — that  they  are 
not  homogeneous  compositions.  This  is  made  quite  clear 
by  many  considerations. 

1.  The  interchange  of  the  first  and  third  persons  when 
Ezra  or  Nehemiah  is  the  theme  of  the  narrative.  In  some 
cases  the  transition  from  one  person  to  another  is  very 
sudden,  as  in  Ezra  ix.  1 5  and  x.  i  ;  Neh.  vii.  5  f.  and  7  ff. ; 
xii.  26  and  27  ff.  ;  xiii.  1-3  and  verses  4  flf. 

2.  The  lack  of  continuity  in  the  narrative.  Between 
Ezra  vi.  22  and  vii.  I  there  is  a  break  in  the  narrative 
representing  a  period  of  some  sixty  years.  An  editor  at 
a  later  time  would  not  be  greatly  struck  by  this  gap  when 


12  EZRA  AND   NEHEMIAH 

viewing  the  past  as  a  whole.  Moreover,  the  Book  of  Ezra 
itself  has  no  natural  ending,  even  vi'hen  we  have  added 
to  it  Neh.  vii.  72^-x  ;  and  many  small  sections  are  ob- 
viously incomplete,  as  e.  g.  that  closing  with  Neh.  xii.  43. 
These  two  books  are,  to  a  large  extent,  a  patchwork,  and 
the  pieces  joined  are  sometimes  but  fragments. 

3.  Each  book  displays  differences  of  vocabulary,  phras- 
ing, and  spirit,  though  this  is  in  an  eminent  degree  true  of 
Ezra  with  its  'Aramaic'  and  *I'  sections.  Nothing  is 
more  striking  in  this  connexion  than  the  Aramaic  por- 
tions of  Ezra.    See  below. 

4.  There  are  apparent  discrepancies  which  could  hardly 
have  existed  if  the  whole  had  come  from  one  hand.  Be- 
side the  variations  in  identical  genealogies  (see  Ezra  ii, 
Neh.  vii,  &c  )  compare  Ezra  iii.  4  ff.  and  Neh.  viii.  13- 
18,  especially  ver.  17. 

Annotation  and    Description   of  the  Principal  Sources. 

Note  that  the  designating  letter  precedes  the  description 
of  the  source. 

T.  Temple  records,  embracing  all  extant  documents 
relating  to  the  Temple  and  its  officials,  but  more  especi- 
ally from  the  return  in  the  time  of  Cyrus.  Such  records 
must  have  been  carefully  preserved  after  the  restoration  of 
the  sanctuary,  probably  in  one  of  the  Temple  treasuries 
(see  on  Ezra  viii.  29,  x.  6).  Ezra  i-vi  belongs  as  a  whole 
to  this  source,  though  the  whole  has  been  worked  over  by 
a  Redactor  (R).  Nothing  would  be  more  likely  to  be 
scrupulously  guarded  than  the  official  documents,  all  in 
Aramaic  except  i.  2-4,  as  during  the  Persian  period  they 
constituted  a  kind  of  official  recognition  of  the  national 
religion.  Ezra  iv.  7-23  (see  on)  belongs  to  source  C,  to  be 
noticed  later. 

Ta.  The  Aramaic  parts  of  T.  These  are  in  themselves 
of  sufficient  importance  to  deserve  a  separate  notice. 
They  are  the  following,  all  of  them  in  Ezra  : 

I.  Correspondence  between  Persian  officials  in  Pales- 
tine and  Darius  I  concerning  the  building  of  the  Temple, 


INTRODUCTION  13 

the  purpose  of  the  first  named  being  to  hinder  the  work, 
iv.  7-v.  12. 

2.  Letter  of  Artaxerxes  I  to  Ezra  officially  recognizing 
the  Jewish  religion  and  its  central  sanctuary,  vii.  12-26. 

We  have  a  similar  Aramaic  document  in  iv.  8-22,  and 
though  this  has  to  do  with  7va//-hm\d'mg  and  is  to  be  sub- 
sumed under  C  (Ca,  see  below)  it  is  convenient  to  consider 
it  m  connexion  with  the  above. 

Most  recent  writers  regard  these  Aramaic  sections  as 
genuine  though  somewhat  altered  from  their  original 
form ;  thus  Driver,  Comill  (later  editions),  Strack,  Bau- 
dissin,  and  Budde  in  their  Introductions,  Ryle,  Siegfried, 
Guthe,  and  Bertholet  in  their  Commentaries,  and  also 
V.  Hoonacker,  Klostermann. 

Aramaic  seems  in  the  fifth  century  B.  c.  to  have  been 
the  language  of  diplomacy  between  the  various  courts  and 
governments  of  Western  Asia,  just  as  French  was  in  the 
seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  A.  D.  the  lingua 
franca  of  Western  Europe.  The  recently  discovered  Ara- 
maic papyri  give  countenance  to  this,  though  the  proofs 
are  not  very  decisive.  As  the  Aramaic  portions  of  Ezra 
embrace  rather  more  than  the  official  documents  many 
(v.  Hoonacker,  Driver,  Baudissin)  have  held  that  there 
existed  originally  an  Aramaic  history  from  which  the 
parts  in  Ezra  are  extracted. 

Quite  recently  ^  Sir  Henry  H.  Howorth  has  put  forth 
and  defended  the  strange  view  that  Ezra,  Nehemiah, 
Esther^  Daniel,  and  other  post-exilic  books  were  written 
originally  in  Aramaic,  the  Jewish  doctors  at  the  Jamnia 
Council  {circa  A.  D.  90)  having  translated  it  into  the 
Hebrew  of  the  M.T.,  retaining  parts  of  the  original 
Aramaic  in  Ezra  and  Daniel. 

Since  the  publication  of  E.  Meyer's  remarkable  essay  on 
The  Rise  of  Judaism'^  (not  yet  put  into  English  notwith- 
standing its  value  and  enormous  influence)  German  opinion 
has  become  much  more  favourable  to  the  trustworthiness 

1  PSBA.,  xxxi.  89-99,  156-68. 

^  Die  Entstehung  des  Jxidenthums,  Halle,  1896. 


14  EZRA  AND   NEHEMIAH 

of  these  Aramaic  parts.  Graetz,  Noldeke,  Torrey,  and 
Kent  regard  them  as  pure  forgeries  of  the  Chronicler,  who 
was  anxious  to  win  respect  and  increased  devotion  for 
Judaism  by  representing  it  as  having  received  in  the  past 
the  sanctions  of  kings  and  governments.  This  is  not,  how- 
ever, the  impression  which  an  unprejudiced  reading  gives. 
The  language  of  these  documents  agrees  so  closely  with 
that  of  the  Aramaic  papyri  as  to  prove  that  they  belong  to 
the  same  period,  viz.  the  fifth  century  B.  C,  though  Torrey, 
in  his  latest  contribution  to  the  subject^,  makes  a  gallant 
but  bootless  attempt  to  prove  the  contrary.  Wellhausen 
pronounces  these  documents  spurious,  but  he  assumes 
their  genuineness  when  constructing  his  history  of  Israel. 
The  weightiest  objection  to  the  historicity  of  the  Aramaic 
section  is  their  strong  Jewish  colouring,  just  as,  it  is  sup- 
posed, the  Chronicler  might  be  expected  to  give  them.  This 
applies  also  and,  indeed,  specially  to  the  Cyrus  edict, i.  2-4, 
which  Meyer,  by  a  singular  inconsistency,  holds  to  be  a 
fiction  of  the  Chronicler.    But  we  have  to  note  these  things  : 

1.  The  Persian  king  would  be  sure  to  have  about  him 
Jewish  officials  to  advise  him  when  dealing  with  Palestine 
and  its  people. 

2.  When  drawing  up  edicts  or  the  like  in  which  Jewish 
interests  were  favoured,  especially  when  Jewish  requests 
were  granted,  it  is  not  unreasonable  to  think  that  he  left 
the  wording  to  Jews. 

3.  We  know  from  the  history  of  Persian  kings  that  they 
were  in  the  habit  of  associating  themselves  with  the  various 
nationalities  subject  to  them  in  the  religions  they  professed. 
In  the  well-known  clay  cylinder  of  Cyrus  (reproduced  in 
substance  in  Century  Bible,  Isa.  vol.  ii,  342  f.)  this  king, 
though  a  Persian,  speaks  of  himself  as  the  servant  of 
Marduk  (Merodak),  Babylon's  principal  god,  and  as  re- 
storing to  their  sanctuaries  the  deities  whom  Nabonidus 
had  taken  away.  We  have  a  very  remarkable  example 
of  this  in  the  Gadatas  inscription  found  in  Magnesia  to 


'  AJSL.,  April,  1908. 


INTRODUCTION  15 

the  east  of  Thessaly  in  1889.  In  it  Darius,  son  of 
Hystaspes,  complains  of  the  way  in  which  the  Persian 
governor,  Gadatas,  had  treated  the  priests  of  Apollo  in 
the  above  province.  He  recognizes  in  Apollo  the  deity 
who  has  spoken  to  his  ancestors  and  helped  them.  When 
Cambyses  conquered  Egypt  and  made  Uzahor,  an  Egyp- 
tian priest,  his  chief  physician,  the  latter  so  wrought  on 
the  mind  of  his  master  that  the  Persian  king  gave  orders 
for  the  restoration  of  the  cultus  and  temple  of  the  goddess 
Nit  (mother  of  the  Sun-god)  at  Sais,  and  accompanied 
the  act  by  many  expressions  of  esteem  for  that  deity  ^ 
There  need  not  be  any  insincerity  in  the  language  used 
by  Cyrus  in  Ezra  i,  or  in  that  ascribed  to  Artaxei-xes  in 
Ezra  vii.  12-26.  All  along  the  Persian  is  thinking  about 
his  own  Ahura-mazda,  called  by  different  people  under 
other  names  and  viewed  in  varying  ways,  yet  all  the 
while  the  same  one  supreme  Good  Spirit.  That  ancient 
Zoroastrianism  was  capable  of  taking  this  philosophical 
view  of  the  religions  of  the  world,  of  seeing  the  one  in  the 
many,  is  proved  by  what  we  know  of  it  (see  p.  40). 

Moreover,  there  is  great  probability  that  the  Persians 
were  well  disposed  to  Judaism  on  account  of  its  many 
affinities  with  their  own  religion,  as  e.  g.  its  high  ethical 
spirit,  its  Dualism,  &c.  It  was  the  Persian's  lofty  con- 
ception of  the  Supreme  Deity  that  led  him  to  create  the 
conception  of  a  rival  spirit  to  whom  was  ascribed  the  evil 
that  is  in  the  universe.  Moreover  the  Sachau  Aramaic 
papyri  (§§13  f.)  tell  us  that  when  Cambyses,  son  of  Cyrus, 
campaigned  in  Egypt  he  spared  the  Jewish  temple  at  Yeb, 
though  he  destroyed  the  sanctuaries  of  the  Egyptians,  the 
priests  of  the  latter  being  probably  sowers  of  disloyalty 
among  the  people. 

Tr  denotes  T  as  edited  by  a  later  Redactor. 

C.  City  records,  that  is,  written  notices  concerning  the 
population,  registers  of  clans,  families,  and  of  civil  offi- 
cials, accounts  of  building  operations— wall  buildings,  &c. 
I  include  also  under  C  the  sections  describing  the  work  of 
'  Cheyne,  Jewish  Religions  Life  after  the  Exile,  pp.  40  ff. 


i6  EZRA  AND   NEHEMIAH 

both  Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  and  as  far  as  subject-matter  is 
concerned  the  autobiographical  parts  (see  E  and  N 
below)  might  also  be  subsumed  here. 

Ca.  This  symbol  will  stand  only  for  Ezraiv.  7-23,  which, 
though  in  Aramaic,  has  to  do  with  the  rebuilding  of  the 
walls  and  not  of  the  Temple. 

E.  The  Ezra  biographical  history,  the  *  I '  sections  of 
Ezra,  viz.  vii.  27-ix. 

"N.  The  Nehemiah  autobiographical  history,  containing 
Nehemiah's  own  account  of  his  coming  to  Jerusalem 
and  of  his  work  there.  This  embraces  Neh.  i-vii.  5  (to 
which  should  probably  be  added  verses  6-73^)  +  xiii.  4-31. 
Hardly  any  writer  has  ventured  to  impugn  the  genuine- 
ness or  authenticity  of  this  '  I  '  record. 

R.  Parts  due  to  a  Redactor  or  Redactors.  It  is  quite 
the  fashion  to  make  the  Chronicler  responsible  for  what, 
in  this  volume,  is  ascribed  to  a  Redactor  or  Redactors. 
The  resemblances  between  Chronicles  and  Ezra-Nehe- 
miah  in  words,  phraseology,  and  point  of  view,  are  held  to 
prove  that  one  man,  or  at  least  men  of  one  school,  edited, 
co-ordinated,  and  assimilated  all  these  books.  But  the 
fact  that  the  differences  are  more  striking  than  the  re- 
semblances makes  this  supposition  quite  untenable. 

1.  In  Ezra-Nehemiah  singers  and  porters  form  classes 
outside  of  the  Levites  (cf.  Ezra  ii.  40  ff.  (see  on) ;  Neh. 
vii.  43  ff.,  X.  28,  &c.).  In  Chronicles  the  general  word 
*  Levites  '  includes  all  (see  i  Chron.  xxiii.  3-5,  &c.).  The 
departures  from  this  distinction  are  probably  the  result  of 
late  editing  ;  they  are,  however,  but  few,  notwithstanding 
the  averments  of  Torrey  to  the  contrary. 

2.  The  same  genealogies  differ  in  Ezra-Nehemiah  and 
in  Chronicles  (cf.  Neh.  xi  and  i  Chron.  ix).  Had  the  whole 
Ezra-Chronicles  been  fashioned  by  one  governing  mind 
he  would  have  prevented  such  discrepancies. 

3.  There  are  other  differences  which  one  general  editor 
would  have  removed,  such  as  that  between  the  two 
accounts  of  the  observance  of  Tabernacles  in  Ezra  already 
noticed  (see  p.  10). 


INTRODUCTION  17 

4.  Chronicles  is  consistently  at  the  point  of  view  of  P, 
but  Ezra-Nehemiah  views  things  prevailingly  from  an 
earlier  point  of  view  :  see  on  Neh.  ix.  6-37. 

5.  The  stage  of  law  and  custom  in  Ezra-Nehemiah 
agrees  in  many  important  respects  with  that  implied  in 
Malachi,  so  that  a  similar  date  for  both  is  highly  probable : 
see  under  *  Date,'  p.  i8f. 

6.  We  come  across  the  phrase  'Aaronites'  (ht.  sons  of 
Aaron)  constantly  in  Chronicles  as  in  P  (see  especially 
Ex.  to  Num.),  but  only  once  is  it  found  in  Ezra-Nehe- 
miah and  in  a  context  (Neh.  xii.  47)  that  has  many  marks 
of  late  date:  see,  however,  Ezra  vii.  5,  and  Neh.  x.  38. 
Moreover,  the  subdivisions  of  the  Levites  (Gershonites, 
&c.,  see  I  Chron.  vi.  16  ff.),  a  prominent  feature  in  Chron., 
are  passed  over  in  silence  in  Ezra-Nehemiah. 

7.  The  means  of  support  of  the  priests  and  Levites 
differ  in  Ezra-Nehemiah  (see  Neh.  x.  35  ff.)  and  Chronicles 
(see  I  Chron.  vi,  54  ff.). 

8.  We  have  ample  external  evidence,  Jewish  and 
Christian,  that  in  very  ancient  times  Ezra-Nehemiah 
was  treated  as  one  book,  but  there  is  not  a  particle  of 
such  evidence  that  Chronicles-Ezra-Nehemiah  formed 
one  whole. 

9.  For  a  discussion  of  the  Aramaic  sections  of  Ezra 
see  p.  12  flf.  These  are  ascribed  to  the  imagination  of  the 
Chronicler  by  many  who  hold  Ezra-Nehemiah  to  be  largely 
the  work  of  the  Chronicler. 

10.  The  dominant  position  of  the  priesthood  in  Chron- 
icles does  not  confront  us  in  Ezra-Nehemiah.  There  are 
civil,  as  well  as  religious  heads,  and  the  former  (of  Zerub- 
babel,  Nehemiah)  bulk  much  more  largely  in  the  history 
and  the  records  than  the  latter.  Yet  there  is  the  begin- 
ning of  what  in  Chronicles  is  consummated.  The  priests 
are  named  apart  from  the  Levites  (Ezra  ii,  Neh.  vii),  and  in 
the  case  of  Eliashib  we  see  a  man  who  in  Nehemiah's 
absence  exercised  a  power  reminding  one  of  the  priest- 
kings  of  Maccabean  days  (Neh.  xiii.  4,  28). 

^^  C 


i8  EZRA  AND    NEHEMIAH 

It  is  assumed  that  whatever  sources  have  been  used 
and  are  indicated  in  the  text  have  been  more  or  less  edited 
by  R. 

V.  Date  of  Ezra-Nehemiah. 
Ezra-Nehemiah  seems  to  reflect  the  same  set  of  circum- 
stances that  are  implied  in  Malachi.     This  is  in  particular 
true  of  Nehemiah,   in  which  as  in  Malachi  these  three 
things  stand  out : — 

1.  Laxity  in  the  priesthood.  See  Malachi  i.  6-iI.  9  ;  cf. 
Neh.  xiii.  4-9,  28. 

2.  The  neglect  of  the  payment  of  tithe.  See  Malachi 
iii.  7-12;  cf.  Neh.  xiii.  10-14. 

3.  Mixed  marriages.  See  Malachi  ii.  10-16  ;  cf.  Neh.  ix. 
2  ;  x.  28,  30  ;  xiii.  23-29  ;  Ezra  ix.  i  ff. ;  x.  i  ff. 

In  the  extant  book  of  Ezra  3  only  of  the  above  finds  a 
place,  but  in  the  complete  Ezra  records,  which  probably 
existed  at  one  time,  the  other  evils  might  likewise  have  been 
dealt  with.  The  closer  affinity  of  Malachi  and  Nehemiah 
has,  however,  led  many  scholars  (Kuenen,  Kirk.,  &c.)  to 
fix  the  date  of  Malachi  during  the  second  visit  of  Nehe- 
miah in  432  B.  c. 

But  there  are  several  points  in  Malachi  which  link  it 
with  the  time  before  the  priestly  code  came  into  vogue. 
The  word  *  Levites  '  has  the  broad  sense  of  D,  and  not 
the  narrow  meaning  it  bears  in  P  and  Chronicles  :  see 
ii.4;  iii.  3. 

Priests  and  Levites  are  differentiated  also  in  Ezra- 
Nehemiah,^  but  there  is  as  yet  no  antagonism  between  the 
two  classes,  and,  in  fact,  the  priests  receive  their  support 
in  part  by  the  hands  of  the  Levites.  See  Neh.  x.  32  f. 
This  would  suit  a  period  460  B.  c.  or  so. 

Morever  the  Heb.  word  mink}iah  has  in  Malachi  the 
generic  sense  'an  offering  of  any  kind '  as  in  the  older  codes: 
see  i.  10 f.,  13  ;  ii.  12  f. ;  iii.  34.     So  apparently  in  Neh. 

*  See  Ezra  i.  5  and  the  note  on. 


INTRODUCTION  19 

xiii.  5.  In  P  it  has  the  meaning  '  cereal '  (E.VV.  '  meal ') 
in  distinction  from  the  'animal'  ofifcring  {zebakh).  It  is 
probable,  therefore,  that  Malachi  was  written  before 
458  B.  C.  (W.  Rob.  Smith,  Wellh.,  Now.,  Marti),  or  at 
latest  before  the  publication  of  the  complete  Hexateuch 
(G.  A.  Smith). 

It  is,  of  course,  quite  possible  for  the  language  of  a 
former  day  to  be  kept  up  after  it  has  ceased  to  'jxpress  the 
ideas  of  the  actual  time  ;  but  this  prophecy  is  serious  ;  it 
seems  to  come  red-hot  from  the  times,  and  to  be  as  realistic 
as  any  sermon  or  sermons  could  well  be. 

There  are  in  Ezra-Nehemiah  some  touches  which  show 
late  editing  if  nothing  more.  Ewald's  contention^  that  the 
expression  '  Cyrus,  King  of  Persia '  belongs  to  a  time  when 
the  Persian  supremacy  had  become  a  thing  of  the  past, 
though  largely  adopted,  has  little  to  support  it.  If,  as 
history  shows,  Cyrus  had  in  538  but  recently  become  king 
of  Persia,  it  would  be  natural  in  this  record  to  give  him 
this  designation  :  or  there  might  have  been  others  bear- 
ing this  name  when  this  history  was  written.  The  ex- 
pressions' Saul,  King  of  Israel,'  ^  '  Hiram,  King  of  Tyre,'  ^ 
'  Rehoboam,  King  of  Judah,'  *  and  '  Shishak,  King  of 
Egypt,'  ^  do  not  mean  that  when  they  were  first  written 
the  various  kingdoms  implied  had  ceased  to  exist,  though 
we  may  not  know  for  certain  why  the  name  of  the  country 
is  appended. 

In  Neh.  xii.  11,  22,  in  the  lists  of  high-priests,  Jaddua 
is  mentioned  as  third  after  EHashib,  i.  e.  three  genera- 
tions after  Nehemiah's  time,  for  Nehemiah  and  Eliashib 
were  contemporaries.  Now  this  Jaddua  must  be  the 
high-priest  of  that  name  whom  Josephus  ^  brings  into  con- 
nexion with  Alexander  the  Great,  and  who  must  there- 
fore have  functioned  about  330  B.  c. 


^  History  of  Isr.,  i.  173.  2  j  gam.  xxix.  3. 

3  I  Kings  ix.  11.        *  i  Kings  xii.  27.        "  i  Kings  xiv.  25. 
^  Atitiq.  viii.  8,  5,  and  9,  i. 

C  2 


20  EZRA  AND   NEHEMIAH 

As  he  is  named  last,  and  as  if  he  were  a  contemporary 
of  the  writer,  these  verses  at  least  seem  to  belong  to  about 
330  B.  C,  though  Vitringa,  Keil,  Ewald,  and  Rawlinson 
may  be  quite  right  in  saying  that  these  verses  are  late 
insertions. 

The  words  '  in  the  days  of  Nehemiah'  ^  could  not  have 
been  written  during  that  leader's  lifetime,  but  that  does 
not  help  much  in  ascertaining  the  date  of  the  book.  It  is 
not  unlikely  that  the  use  in  Neh.  i.  1 1  of  the  word  Adonai 
(Lord),  apparently  for  Yahweh,  implies  a  date  subsequent 
to  the  introduction  among  the  Jews  of  the  custom  of  sub- 
stituting the  former  for  the  latter.  But  we  do  not  know 
when  this  custom  began  ;  all  that  can  be  definitely  said 
is  that  it  is  older  than  the  oldest  part  of  the  LXX. 

The  context  makes  it  highly  probable  that  '  Darius  the 
Persian  '  in  Neh.  xii.  22  is  Darius  Codomannus  (336-233 
B.  c),  but,  as  already  remarked,  the  whole  of  this  verse  has 
been  largely  held  to  be  an  interpolation. 

Zunz,  Rosenzweig,  Noldeke,  and  Reuss  make  Ezra- 
Nehemiah  a  product  of  the  third  century  B.  c.  if  not  later. 
But  even  the  latest  parts  are  a  sufficient  answer  to  this, 
for  the  last  high-priest  known  to  the  final  redactor  is 
Jaddua  (about  330  B.  c),  and  the  remaining  parts  of  these 
books  have  every  impress  of  a  much  earlier  date. 

One  may  safely  say  that  Ezra-Nehemiah  as  a  whole  is 
made  up  out  of  contemporary  records  kept  in  the  Temple  or 
elsewhere,  sacred  and  civic  :  that  with  very  few  exceptions 
the  final  editing  was  completed  before  the  publication  of 
the  P  code,  i.  e.  prob.  before  400  B.  c.  But  there  are  some 
marks  of  a  later  date,  though  so  few  and  isolated  as  to 
make  it  probable  they  are  not  original  parts  of  these  books. 

^  Neh.  xii.  26,  47. 


INTRODUCTION  21 

VI.  SOxME  Recent  Discussions  bearing  on  these 

Books  or  on  the  History  which  these 

Books  contain. 

During  the  last  half-century  more  discussions  have 
arisen  and  more  books  been  written  about  Ezra-Nehemiah 
than  about  any  other  equal  portion  of  the  Old  Testament, 
and  we  seem  as  far  as  ever  from  finality  on  the  matter.  To 
these  discussions  British  scholars  have  contributed  but 
little,  though  the  writings  of  Sayce,  Ryle,  Sir  Henry 
Howorth,  and  Cheyne  bearing  on  the  subject  are  worthy 
of  praise.  America  is  represented  by  the  radical  and 
destructive  criticism  of  Torrey  ^,  who  has  found  followers 
in  his  fellow  countrymen  H.  P.  Smith,  C.  F.  Kent,  and 
perhaps  L.  W.  Batten.  The  books  and  articles  by 
Dutch  (Kuenen,  Kosters,  &c.),  French  (v.  Hoonacker), 
and  especially  by  German  (Bertheau-Ryssel,  Sellin,  &c.) 
scholars  are  legion.  In  the  limited  space  allowed  in  this 
volume  the  present  writer  is  unable  fully  to  state,  much 
less  adequately  to  estimate,  the  opinions  put  forth. 

I.  Up  to  the  time  of  W.  H.  Kosters  (d.  as  Professor 
at  Leyden  in  1 897)  the  books  of  Ezra-Nehemiah  were 
generally  considered  by  scholars  to  rest  on  contemporary 
sources,  and  therefore  to  be  historical —with  but  slight 
exceptions.  It  was  Kosters  who  started  the  theory  that 
throughout  these  two  books  the  Chronicler  has  been  busily 
at  work,  altering,  transposing,  and  inventing  to  make  the 
whole  tally  with  his  notions  of  the  religious  history  of 
Israel.  In  the  result  we  have  much  more  of  the  Chronicler 
than  of  the  historian.  Kosters,  however,  did  not  deny  or 
call  in  question  the  main  facts  of  Ezra's  life  and  work  as 
they  are  portrayed  in  Ezra  vii-x,  though  he  regarded 
Ezra  vii-x  as  the  creation  of  the  Chronicler's  mind,  and 
held  the  true  chronological  order  to  be  Nehemiah-Ezra, 
not  the  contrary.      Dr.  C.  C.  Torrey,  of  Yale    Univer- 

^  See  Bibliography,  p,  37. 


22  EZRA  AND    NEHEMIAH 

sity,  proceeded  further  along  the  path  opened  up  by 
Kosters  ^,  for  he  holds  that  the  only  genuine  and  authen- 
tic parts  of  the  two  books  are  the  Nehemiah  memoirs 
(Neh.  i-vii.  5).  He  agrees  with  Renan  ^  that  the  Ezra 
memoirs  were  fabricated  by  members  of  the  priestly 
(Renan  adds,  the  Pharisee)  classes,  who  could  not  toler- 
ate the  thought  that  the  re-establishment  and  purification 
of  Judaism  were  the  doing  of  a  layman,  and  so  they  in- 
vented the  priestly  character  Ezra  and  ascribed  to  him  a 
role  not  second  to  that  of  Nehemiah.  But  unlike  Torrey 
Renan  accepts  as  historical  the  events  narrated  in  Ezra 
i-vi,  i.  e.  the  return  under  Zerubbabel  and  Joshua,  and  the 
rebuilding  ofthe  Temple  mainly  by  returned  exiles,  though 
he  holds  there  were  many  parties  returned  from  Babylon 
at  as  many  different  times. 

The  following  are  the  principal  grounds  on  which 
Renan,  Torrey,  &c.,  reject  the  tale  of  Ezra — told  in  Ezra 
vii-x.  (l)  Nehemiah  does  not  mention  Ezra  or  his  work. 
But  nothing  in  Biblical  literature  is  more  remarkable 
than  the  silences  of  writers  and  workers  about  each  other, 
of  Amos  and  Hosea  ;  Isaiah  and  Micah  ;  Jeremiah,  Eze- 
kiel,  and  Zephaniah  ;  Haggai  and  Zechariah.  (2)  Ezra  is 
apparently  unknown  to  Ben  Sira^  and  to  the  author  of 
2  Maccabees*  ;  but  see  under  i.  Torrey  has  put  together 
a  large  number  of  words  and  idioms  found  in  Ezra  vii.  I- 
10  which  occur  also  in  Chronicles.     But  note 

(a)  Many  of  those  adduced  are  to  be  seen  also  in  other 
post-exilic  writings  ofthe  O.T.,  showing  that  they  belong 
to  the  period  which  followed  the  return. 

(d)  There  are,  as  previously  remarked,  terms  and  ex- 
pressions in  Ezra  vii-x  showing  an  acquaintance  with 
older  sources  ( JE,  D,  &c.),  but  none  at  all  with  P,  and 

'  See  Composition  and  Historical  Value  of  Eera-Nehemiah^ 
1896,  and  more  recent  articles  in  AJSL. 

'^  Hisfcire,  &c.,  Livre  VII,  cap.  viii.  Books  I-VI  have  alone 
been  translated  into  English. 

3  Sir.  xlix.  laff.  *  See  i.  10  ff. 


INTRODUCTION  33 

related  Scriptures.  Geissler  has  brought  together  a  large 
collection  of  such  \ 

(c)  There  are  linguistic  features  in  Ezra  vii-x  which, 
though  post-exilic  and  absent  from  D,  are  absent  from 
Chronicles,  and  suggest  sources  different  from  those  fol- 
lowed by  the  Chronicler. 

It  is  not  without  significance  in  this  connexion  that 
Ezra  belongs  to  the  priestly  class  as  does  the  Chronicler. 
They  might,  therefore,  be  expected  beforehand  to  have 
similar  interests  and  to  be  characterized  by  similar  modes 
of  speech. 

2.  Kosters,  following  Vernes,  held  that  the  second 
Temple  was  built  by  Jews  who  had  never  been  in  exile, 
and  not,  as  would  appear  from  Ezra  i-vi,  by  returned 
exiles.     The  principal  reasons  mentioned  are  these  : 

(1)  Nothing  is  said  by  Haggai  or  Zechariah  in  urging 
the  people  to  complete  the  building,  implying  that  those 
addressed  were  returned  exiles.  In  reply  it  may  be  said 
that  there  is  not  a  syllable  in  the  writings  of  these  pro- 
phets suggesting  that  the  builders  were  not  returned  exiles. 
The  theme  with  which  these  preachers  are  occupied  is 
the  work,  not  the  workers. 

(2)  Kosters,  Cheyne,  and  others  maintain  there  was  no 
return  under  Cyrus,  or  none  deserving  the  name  ;  the 
first  important  batch  of  exiles  being  that  led  by  Ezra. 
This  involves  the  position  that  the  official  Aramaic  docu- 
ments in  Ezra  are  spurious,  as  also  the  Cyrus  edict  in 
Ezra  i.  2-4.  Meyer  ^  has,  however,  made  it  practically 
certain  that  the  Aramaic  extracts  in  Ezra  are  /^ona  fide 
and  are  the  product  of  the  period  to  which  in  Ezra  they 
are  assigned,  and  the  same  reasoning  proves  that  the 
Cyrus  proclamation  is  also  genuine,  though  possibly 
tinged  by  Jewish  influence :  see  p.  40  and  on  Ezra  i.  1-4. 

On  the  other  side  the  following  points  are  weighty  : 
{a)  Such  a  return  is  implied  in  II  Isaiah,  where  Cyrus 

1  See  op.  at.  "  op.  cit. 


24  EZRA  AND    NEHEMIAH 

is  referred  to  by  name  or  otherwise.  He  is  Yahweh's  friend, 
who  executes  His  will  and  says  to  Jerusalem,  'be  built,' 
and  to  the  Temple, '  let  thy  foundation  be  laid  ^.'  Yahweh 
calls  him  His  anointed  one,  who  on  account  of  the  task 
allotted  him  of  delivering  Israel  is  enabled  to  triumph 
over  all  his  foes.'^  These  words  and  the  like  represent 
hopes  and  expectations  in  Israel  about  the  time  in  ques- 
tion, and  if  they  are  post  e^ientiim  in  their  origin,  all  the 
same  they  prove  that  the  event  implied  had  taken  place, 
or  the  writer  would  not  stultify  himself  by  expressing  as 
expectations  things  which  the  actual  facts  of  the  time 
proved  to  be  impossible. 

{b)  If  no  return  about  538  B.  c.  took  place,  what  are  we 
to  make  of  the  words  gola  and  bene  gola  (*  exile '  and 
'  exiles  ')  which  stand  in  contradistinction  to  the  '  people 
of  the  land'  in  2  Kings  xxiv.  14,  xxv.  12,  and  elsewhere? 
These  returned  exiles  are  spoken  of  not  only  in  Ezra  i-vi, 
but  also  in  Ezra  ix.  4,  x.  6  ;  Neh.  i.  2  f.  Of  the  people  left 
in  the  country  a  few  joined  themselves  to  the  community 
fresh  from  Babylon,  but  they  are  never  mentioned  by 
themselves  as  an  independent  social  unit,  and  in  the  ac- 
count of  the  rebuilding  and  of  the  reforms  they  are  vir- 
tually ignored.  Eight  years  or  so  after  the  return  the 
Je>vish  community  in  and  about  Jerusalem  has  the  name 
gola,  i.  e.  exiles,  or  the  congregation  of  the  Gola  '. 

{c)  The  character  gi  ven  by  Ezekiel  (see  xxviii.  23  ff.)  to  the 
unexiled  Jews  does  not  make  one  think  they  were  the  people 
to  have  much  concern  about  the  restoration  of  the  Temple 
and  also  of  Jewish  orthodoxy.  Indeed,  the  second  Isaiah  in 
his  forecast  of  the  new  time  leaves  them  out  of  account,  and 
Jeremiah  speaks  of  them  with  no  more  respect  than  Ezekiel. 

It  is  evident  from  many  parts  of  Ezekiel  that  the  pro- 
phet and  his  companion  exiles  expected  a  return  :  see 
xxxvi.  8-15.     Not  at  all  improbably  this  expectation  was 

1  xliv.  a8.  2  xlv.  I  flf. 

8  Ezra  ix.  4,  x.  6,  7,  16.  *  Ezra  x.  8;  cf.  Neh.  i.  af. 


INTRODUCTION  25 

awakened  by  the  movements  of  Cyrus  and  a  knowledge  of 
the  policy  he  pursued  towards  deported  people. 

3.  The  French  writers  de  Saulcy,  Havet,  Vernes,  Im- 
bert,  Hal^vy\  and  especially  v.  Hoonacker  (Roman 
Catholic  Professor  at  Louvain)  and  the  Dutch  scholar 
Kosters^  have  endeavoured  to  prove  that  the  true 
chronological  order  is  Nehemiah-Ezra  and  not  the 
contrary,  or  at  least  that  Nehemiah's  attempts  at  reform 
preceded  those  of  Ezra.  Some  of  their  reasons  are  the 
following  :  — 

(i)  When  Ezra  arrived  at  Jerusalem  he  found  the  city 
in  a  peaceable  and  orderly  condition,  which,  it  is  said,  im- 
plies that  the  walls  had  been  repaired  and  the  city  other- 
wise fortified.  But  how  can  we  so  argue  when  our  know- 
ledge of  the  state  of  things  is  so  meagre  ?  Of  the  sixty 
years  preceding  Ezra's  arrival  we  know  nothing — what  in 
that  interval  took  place  we  have  at  present  no  means  of 
finding  out. 

(2)  If  (it  is  said)  the  reforming  measures  of  Ezra  had 
been  taken  before  the  arrival  of  Nehemiah  the  latter  must 
have  mentioned  them.  One  may  turn  the  same  argument 
against  V.  Hoonacker  and  Kosters  and  say,  if  Nehemiah's 
reforms  antedated  the  arrival  of  Ezra,  the  latter  must  have 
made  some  allusion  to  them.  In  fact  any  argtnnentiwi 
e  silentio  is  precarious,  especially  if  it  has  reference  to  the 
writings  of  the  O.  T. :  see  p.  10. 

(3)  It  is  further  maintained  that  Ezra's  reforms  were 
much  more  radical  and  extreme  than  those  of  Nehemiah, 
for  whereas  Ezra  demands  the  divorce  of  all  foreign 
wives  ^,  Nehemiah  goes  no  further  than  to  forbid  inter- 
marriage between  Jewish  children  and  the  children  of 
foreigners  *.  The  work  of  Nehemiah  has  therefore,  it  is 
inferred,  all  the  appearance  of  being  tentative  and  intro- 


*  Revue  de  VHistoire  dcs  Religions,  1886,  334-58. 

2  op.  cit. 

^  See  Ezra  x.  11  f.  ^  Neh.  xiii.  35. 


26  EZRA  AND    NEHEMIAH 

ductory  to  that  of  Ezra.  Here  again  the  reasoning  is  of 
the  a  priori  kind,  and  in  reply  one  may  say  that  the 
failure  of  the  more  drastic  reforms  attempted  by  Ezra 
would  be  sure  to  lead  to  milder  measures.  Moreover,  the 
rise  and  growing  influence  of  the  Samaritan  party  led  to 
a  broadening  of  sympathies  and  outlook  which  the  Per- 
sian officials  would  be  sure  to  encourage.  Indeed,  such  a 
latitudinarian  tendency,  alike  in  belief  and  in  the  cultus, 
grew  and  spread  throughout  the  land  until  it  was  suddenly 
checked  by  the  Maccabean  uprising.  Among  those  who 
make  Ezra's  reforms  follow  upon  Nehemiah's  there  are  con- 
siderable divergences  of  opinions  as  to  details,  v.  Hoon- 
acker  ^  says  Ezra  came  to  Jerusalem  first  of  all  in  the  reign 
of  Artaxerxes  I,  and  for  a  time  worked  with  Nehemiah,  but 
soon  returned  to  Babylon,  whence  he  set  out  again  for  Jeru- 
salem in  the  reign  of  Artaxerxes  II,  i.  e.  about  398  B.  C,  this 
time  armed  with  great  authority,  which  he  used  in  putting 
down  the  mixed  marriages.  Kosters  ^  puts  the  work  of  Ezra 
after  the  incidents  of  Neh.  xiii.  Wellhausen  ^  seems  to 
think  that  the  reading  and  expounding  of  the  law  (Neh.  viii) 
by  Ezra  belong  to  the  period  of  Nehemiah's  second  visit, 
though  he  does  not  deny  the  arrival  of  Ezra  in  458  B.  C, 
or  call  in  question  the  part  ascribed  to  him  in  putting 
down  mixed  marriages. 

Franz  Buhl,  Professor  of  Arabic  at  Copenhagen,  for 
some  years  Franz  Delitzsch's  successor  at  Leipzic,  has 
recently  published  a  history  of  Israel  in  Danish  in  which 
in  the  relevant  portion  he  endeavours  to  make  good  the 
following  theses  : — 

1.  That  Nehemiah,  having  received  the  king's  per- 
mission, came  to  Jerusalem  in  445  B,  C,  repaired  the  walls 
and  introduced  certain  social  reforms,  returning  thereupon 
to  Susa  after  an  absence  of  twelve  years,  Neh.  i-vii.  5. 

2.  Subsequently  Ezra  came  from  Babylon  to  Jerusalem, 

^  Nouvelles  Etudes,  &c.,  270  ff.  ^  op.  cit, 

'  GescM'chfe(^).  177  f. 


INTRODUCTION  j^ 

bringing  with  him  the  law  book  which  he  endeavoured 
to  put  into  practice.  His  efforts  to  put  an  end  to  mixed 
marriages  were  however  unsuccessful,  whereupon  he  re- 
turned to  Babylon,  Ezra  vii-x. 

3.  Nehemiah  finding  Ezra's  efforts  unavailing  returned 
to  Jerusalem,  and  succeeded  in  carrying  out  in  a  less 
drastic  way  the  reforms  which  Ezra  failed  to  carry  out, 
Neh.  xi-xiii. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  the  reasoning  by  which  it  is 
sought  to  prove  that  Ezra's  visit,  or  at  least  the  bulk  of 
his  work,  followed  that  of  Nehemiah  is  almost  exclusively 
of  the  a _pn'on  kind,  and  can  be  met  h^  a  priori  considera- 
tions of  a  contrary  kind.  In  no  codex,  edition,  or  version 
of  the  Hebrew  Bible  has  any  different  order  of  the 
history  of  these  Jewish  leaders  been  found,  and  tradition, 
Jewish  and  Christian,  is  completely  on  the  side  of  the  old 
view— Ezra  first  then  Nehemiah.  Tradition  has  indeed 
in  other  things  been  proved  to  be  wrong,  but  it  can  be 
discarded  only  at  the  call  of  evidence  clear  and  cogent. 

4.  Much  has  of  late  years  been  written  as  to  the 
relation  between  the  Canonical  Ezra  and  the  Apocr)'phal 
I  Esdras  (Vulg.  3  Esdras),  which  in  matter  coincide  in 
the  main,  i  Esdras  is,  however,  more  extensive  than  Ezra, 
for  at  its  beginning  (ch.  i)  it  has  2  Chron.  xxxv.  i- 
xxxvi.  21,  and  at  its  close  (ix.  37-55)  it  adds  Neh.  vii.  73^- 
viii.  12,  besides  which  it  inserts  I  Esdras  iii.  i-vi  (Darius 
and  the  three  youths,  guards  of  the  royal  chamber, 
Zerubbabel  being  one  of  them).  From  the  fact  that 
I  Esdras,  besides  embracing  Ezra,  has  also  at  its  begin- 
ning and  end  parts  of  Chronicles  and  Nehemiah,  it  has 
been  concluded  by  many  modern  scholars  that  our 
present  i  Esdras  is  but  the  fragment  of  an  older  docu- 
ment which  included  Chronicles-Ezra-Nehemiah  in  that 
order. 

Moreover  a  large  number  of  scholars,  especially  of 
recent  times,  take  the  view  that  i  Esdras  represents  the 
true  LXX,  the  original  Canonical  Ezra  corresponding  to 


28  EZRA  AND   NEHEMIAH 

it  having  been  lost.  So  Whiston^,  Pohlmann,  Gins- 
burg,  Cheyne,  Hovvorth'^,  Bertholet,  Nestle,  and  Torrey. 
Bertholet,  Torrey,  and  others  maintain  that  the  section 
I  Esdras  iii.  i-v.  6,  which  is  unworthy  of  its  context, 
and  moreover  contradicts  chronologically  the  preceding 
chapters,  is  a  late  interpolation  and  had  no  Hebrew 
original.  Howorth,  however,  strenuously  argues  for  the 
genuineness  of  this  part  of  i  Esdras,  holding,  as  others 
have  before  him,  that  its  Greek  is  interlarded  with  Hebra- 
isms (Deissmann  and  Moulton  would  hardly  allow  the 
designation),  just  as  is  the  rest  of  the  book. 

What  has  passed  as  the  LXX  of  Daniel,  and  as  such 
is  printed  in  copies  of  the  LXX,  has  in  recent  years  been 
proved  in  reality  to  be  Theodotion's  version,  the  true 
LXX  rendering  being  found  in  the  so-called  Greek  codex 
Chisianus  (from  the  family  Chigi  who  owned  it).  In 
a  similar  way  it  is  argued  that  the  Greek  version  of  Esdras 
now  found  in  the  LXX  is  in  reality  Theodotion's  version, 
I  Esdras  representing  the  LXX  version. 

The  evidence  offered  is  external  and  internal. 

I.  Exterfial.  [a)  Josephus  uses  it  in  all  cases,  though 
for  other  books  it  is  the  LXX  he  follows.  In  fact  for  the 
period  covered  by  I  Esdras,  Josephus's  history  is  little 
more  than  a  paraphrase  of  this  book. 

{U)  There  are,  Howorth  says',  strong  reasons  for  be- 
lieving that  in  Origen's  Hexapla  i  Esdras  takes  the  place 
of  our  LXX  version. 

{c)  In  the  foreword  to  the  Syriac  version  of  I  Esdras 
in  Walton's  Polyglot  it  is  said  that  this  version  was  made 
from  the  LXX. 

{d)  In  the  Syriac  version  of  Paulus  of  Telia,  I  Esdras 
takes  the  place  of  the  Canonical  Ezra. 

(e)  Howorth  will  have  it  ^  that  in  the  Vetus  Itala  also 
I  Esdras  had  the  place  which  in  our  Bible  Ezra  holds. 

^  Essay  on  the  Text  of  the  O.  T. 

2  See  articles  in  Academy,  Jan.,  June  1893  ;  PSBA. 

'  PSBA.  xxiv.  p  156.  *  lac.  cit.  x68. 


INTRODUCTION  i^ 

2.  Internal  evidence,  (a)  It  is  held  by  Dr.  Gwyn^, 
Thackeray,'^  and  Howorth  that  the  Greek  of  the  true 
LXX  of  Daniel  is  remarkably  like  that  of  I  Esdras, 
though,  as  Thackeray  remarks,  this  proves  only  that  one 
man  translated  both.  On  the  contrary,  Howorth  adds 
that  the  present  LXX  of  Daniel  and  of  Ezra  are  both 
very  literal,  as  we  know  Theodotion's  version  was.  The 
present  writer  has  read  the  two  Greek  texts,  that  of  Ezra 
and  that  of  i  Esdras,  without  feeling  strongly  the  cogency 
of  this  latter  remark.  Similarly  Howorth  endeavours 
now  to  prove  that  the  Apocryphal  Prayer  of  Manasseh 
represents  a  portion  of  the  true  LXX  of  2  Chron.  xxx.  3.'' 

Keil,  followed  by  Bissell  and  (formerly)  by  Schiirer  *, 
held  that  i  Esdras  is  a  compilation  based  on  the  LXX 
version  of  Chronicles,  Ezra,  and  Nehemiah.  The  grounds 
for  this  conclusion  and  a  succinct  discussion  of  other 
views  can  be  seen  in  Bissell's  valuable  commentary  on  the 
Apocrypha. 

Herzfeld,  Fritsche,  Ginsburg,  Thackeray,  Nestle,  and 
(formerly)  Ewald  hold  that  I  Esdras  is  an  independent 
Greek  translation  from  a  now  lost  Hebrew  (or  Aramaic) 
original  in  many  respects  superior  to  our  M.T.  This  is 
the  latest  view  of  Schiirer',  and  it  is  that  supported  by 
Howorth. 

The  opinion  advocated  by  Ewald  in  the  later  editions 
of  his  History  is  that  I  Esdras  is  the  result  of  a  working 
over  of  an  earlier  Greek  translation  now  lost.  This 
assumes  that  there  were  two  independent  Greek  trans- 
lations of  Chronicles-Ezra-Nehemiah,  as  we  now  know 
there  were  of  Daniel. 

The  notes  in  this  volume  on  Ezra-Nehemiah  will  show 
that  the  present  writer  has  often  found  i  Esdras  more  ser- 
viceable in  the  restoration  of  the  correct  Hebrew  text  than 

'  Smith,  Z)5(2)^^  Esdras  A.  2  Hastings,  DB.,  i.  761  B. 

3  PSBA.  xxxi.  89  ff. 

*  History  of  the  Jewish  People^  ii.  iii.  179  f. ;  Htrgog^^^,  i.  496  f. 
^  Hereog^^^^  i.  637. 


50  EZRA  AND   NEHEMIAH 

the  M.T.  On  the  other  hand  he  has  had  in  at  least  as 
many  instances  to  reject  the  readings  implied  in  i  Esdras. 
And  certainly  i  Esdras  iii-v.  6  cannot  have  formed 
a  part  of  the  original  i  Esdras  in  either  Hebrew  or 
Greek,  for  it  stands  in  contradiction  to  the  rest  of  the  book, 
forms  no  essential  part  of  it,  and,  moreover,  occupies  lower 
ground  than  the  rest  of  the  book. 

On  the  whole  i  Esdras  has  a  better  sequence  of  events 
than  our  Ezra-Nehemiah  (see  on  Neh.  vii.  73  ^ff.),  and  it 
represents  not  improbably  a  better  Hebrew  (and  Aramaic) 
original,  in  which  case  it  is  to  be  reckoned  a  part  of  the 
true  LXX  of  Chronicles-Ezra- Nehemiah. 

VII.  Contemporary  Literature. 

The  period  covered  by  Ezra-Nehemiah  was  on  the 
whole  a  barren  one  from  the  literary  point  of  view,  as 
might  have  been  expected,  for  it  was  a  time  of  national 
reconstruction,  and  the  energies  of  the  leaders  of  the 
people  were  spent  in  the  work  of  restoring  the  old  institu- 
tions, and  reorganizing  the  new  community. 

Cheyne^  Briggs'^,  and  other  writers  on  the  Psalter, 
agree  that  in  the  early  and  middle  Persian  period,  i.e. 
in  the  period  which  comprehends  the  life  and  work  of 
Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  there  v/as  a  great  burst  of  sacred 
song.  Among  such  Briggs  reckons  forty  whole  psalms 
and  portions  of  ten  others.  All  the  so-called  '  persecution 
psalms'  are  included  (Ps.  xxvi.  &c.),  the  persecutors  being 
the  Samaritan  party.  Though  certainty  on  the  matter 
is  unattainable,  for  no  one  of  these  psalms  bears  decisive 
date-marks,  yet  strong  evidence  of  an  accumulative  kind 
supports  in  a  general  way  the  conclusions  of  Cheyne  and 
Briggs,  which  in  the  main  agree.  Renan  in  his  History  ' 
connects  a  large  number  of  the  same  psalms  with  this 
period.     The    so-called   'royal'   or   'theocratic  psalms' 

^  Origin  of  the  Psalter,  p.  230  ei  passim.         2  pg.  \^  Ixxxix  f. 
?  Book  vii,  untranslated  into  English. 


INTRODUCTION  31 

(xciii-c,  except  xciv)  are  commonly  interpreted  as  voicing 
the  confidence  in  the  Divine  rule  which  the  dehverance 
from  Babylon  called  forth  (see  on  Ps.  xciii,  Introduction, 
Century  Bible). 

It  has  been  already  shown  that  Malachi  must  have 
been  composed  before  458  B.C.,  or  at  latest  before 
444  B.  c.^ 

Another  literary  product  of  the  time  is,  according  to 
most  recent  scholars,  the  Book  of  Ruth,  written  primarily 
as  a  protest  against  the  prohibition  of  mixed  marriages 
by  Ezra  and  Nehemiah.  The  writer  might  himself  have 
been  guilty  of  the  very  sin  which  these  leaders  so  strongly 
denounced ;  but  in  any  case  he  seems  in  this  charming 
idyll  to  champion  the  cause  of  foreign  women,  who  like 
*  Ruth  the  Moabitess '  (constantly  so  called  by  a  kind  of 
delicate  irony)  had  married  into  Israel,  and  whom  it 
seemed  cruel  to  cast  adrift  to  shift  for  themselves,  a  pre- 
carious task  for  an  Eastern  woman. 

Isa.  Iviii.  13  f.  and  Jer.  xvii.  19-27,  each  enforcing 
strict  sabbath  observance,  are  connected  by  modern 
criticism  with  Neh.  ix.  14  and  xiii.  15-21,  and  made  to 
arise  under  the  influence  of  the  same  religious  movement. 
Both  passages  stand  apart  from  their  present  context, 
and  are  regarded  by  most  recent  scholars  as  late  interpo- 
lations. It  is  significant  that  the  Sabbath  is  not  once 
referred  to  in  II  Isaiah  (except  in  the  above  verses),  Haggai, 
Zechariah,  Malachi,  Psalms,  Proverbs,  Job,  or  even  in 
Genesis,  except  in  the  account  of  its  establishment 
(ii.  2f.  P). 

Large  portions  of  Isaiah  besides  the  above  are  assigned 
to  the  Persian  period.  Duhm  regarded  practically  the 
whole  of  Isa.  Ivi-lxiv  (called  by  him  'Trito-Isaiah')  as 
belonging  to  the  time  of  Nehemiah,  and  (except  inlxiii.  7- 
Ixiv.  12  (Heb.  11),  and  other  smaller  sections)  Cheyne  and 
Whitehouse  follow  him.  According  to  Cheyne  and  Driver 

1  Seep.  i8f.  '"'''  '"*'■ 


32 


EZRA  AND    NEHEMIAH 


Isa.  xxiv-xxvii  (Cheyne  and  Whitehouse  add  xxxivf.) 
belong  to  the  close  of  the  Persian  period  {circa  350?). 
See  for  details  the  commentaries  on  Isaiah,  especially 
Marti  and   also  Whitehouse,  Century  Bible. 


VIII.    Important  Dates  in  Jewish,  Persian,  &c. 
History. 

N.B.  All  the  dates  are  B.C. 


Jewish. 


First  return  of  Jews 
from  Babylon,  537. 

Foundation  of  the 
Temple  laid,  536. 

Haggai  and  Zecha- 
riah  prophesy,  520. 


Completion     of    the 
Temple,  515. 


Persian. 


Babylon     conquered 
by  Cyrus,  538. 


Temple  built  by  Jews 
at  Elephantine 

(Yeb)',  cir.  536. 

Reign  of  Cambyses, 
529-522. 

Conquest  of  Egypt 
by  Cambj'ses,  527- 
525.  He  destroys  the 
temples  of  the  Egyp- 
tians, but  spares  the 
Jewish  temple  at 
Elephantine.^ 

Pseudo  -  Smerdis 
reigns,  522. 

Reign  of  Darius  I 
(Hystaspis),  521- 
486.  He  invaded 
Europe  cir.  500. 

Reign  of  Xerxes, 
485-465- 


Reign  of  Artaxerxes 
I(Longimanus),465- 
424. 


Greek,  Egyptian,  &c 


Rule  of  Pisistratus, 
d.  537. 

Ionian  revolt  against 
the  Persians,  cir. 
509- 


Battle  of  Marathon, 
490. 

Egypt  revolts,  but  is 
reconquered  by 
Persia,  488-486. 

Battle  of  Thermopy- 
lae andSalamis,  480. 

Herodotus  and  Aes- 
chylus fl.  cir.  460. 

Battle  of  Plataea  and 
Mycale,  479. 

Revolt  of  Inaros  in 
Egypt,  462-456. 


1  See  Sachau,   Aram.   Papyri,   I3f.  j    cf.    Sayce-Cowley,  Aram. 
Papyri. 


INTRODUCTION 


33 


Jewish. 


Composition  of  Ma- 
lachi  and  Isa.  Ivi- 
Ixvi  (with  some  ex- 
ceptions, see  be- 
low), cir.  460. 

Second  return  of 
Jews  (under  Ezra), 
458. 

Nehemiah's  arrival 
at  Jerusalem ;  re- 
form in  social  life 
and  the  cultus : 
repairing  of  the 
walls,  all  in  445. 

Isa.  Iviii.  13  f.  and 
Jer.  xvii.  19-27, 
written  cir.  444. 

The  Priestly  Codex 
completed,  440. 

Nehemiah's  second 
visit  to  Jerusalem, 
432. 

Secession  of  the  Sa- 
maritan party,  cir. 
430- 

Jews  at  Elephantine 
appeal  to  Jews  at 
Jerusalem  for  help 
to  rebuild  their 
temple  ^ 

The  Prophecy  of 
Joel,  cir.  404. 

Publication  of  our 
Hexateuch,  cir.  400 


Persian. 


Xerxes  II  murdered 
by  his  half-brother 
Sogdianus,  424. 

Reign  of  Darius  II 
(Nothus),  423-404. 


Reign  of  Artaxerxes 
II  (Mnemon\  404- 

359. 
He  sends  his  rescript 
to  the  Greeks,  387. 


GREEK,EGyPTIAN,&C. 


Revolt  of  Megabyzus 
in  Syria,  448. 


Building  of  the 
Samaritan  temple 
on  Gerizim,  334- 
331. 

Peloponnesian  war, 
431-404. 

Socrates,  Sophocles, 
Aristophanes  n.,  cir. 
420. 


Euripides,  Plato, 

Xenophon     fl.,    cir. 

400. 
Defeat    of   Cyrus    II 

at     the      battle     of 

Cunaxa,  401. 
Xenophon     conducts 

the    10,000    Greeks 

back,  cir.  400. 


^  See  Sachau,  Aram.  Papyri. 
D 


34 


EZRA  AND    NEHEMIAH 


Jewish. 

Persian. 

Greek, Egyptian,&c. 

Reig 

n  of  Artaxerxes 

III 

(Ochus), 

359- 

Jaddua,     high-priest 

338. 

at  Jerusalem,   351- 

323. 

Darius     III      ' 

Codo- 

Ezra-Neh.        com- 

manus), 338- 

331- 

pleted,  cir,  320. 

Alexander  the  Great 

End 

of  the   Persian 

conquers     and     an- 

Kin 

gdom,  331 

. 

nexes  Persia,  331. 

Onias  I  became  high- 

Wars  of  the  Romans 

priest,  323. 

with  the  Samnites, 
343-290. 

Ptolemy  I  (Lagos), 
reigned  at  Alexan- 
dria, 323-285. 

Capture  of  Jerusalem 

by  Ptolem}'  I,  320. 

Ptolemy  II  (Phila- 
delphus)  reigned 
285-247. 

Antiochus    III    con- 

First   (264),    second 

quers  Palestine,  203. 

(218),  and  third 
(149)  Punic  wars. 

Antiochus    IV    (Epi- 

Treaty  of  Philip  with 

phanes),    tormentor 

Hannibal,  215. 

of  the  Jews,  reigned 

First     Macedonian 

in  Syria,  175-164. 

war,  210. 

The    revolt    of    the 

Maccabees,  167. 

Jonathan  made  high- 

priest  by  Demetrius, 

153- 

Simon        succeeding 
Jonathan    as    high- 

Roman. 

priest  becomes  also 

prince,  142. 

Tiberius     (133)    and 

John  Hyrcanus,  king 

Caius    (123)    Grac- 

from 134, 

chus      Roman     tri- 

Alexander Jannaeus 

bunes. 

from  103. 

Birth  of  Cicero  and 
Pompey  (106),  and 
of      Julius     Caesar 

(100). 

The  books  of  Esther, 
about  TOO. 


Judith.  2  Mace,  and  Jubilees  belong  to 


INTRODUCTION 


35 


ace.  =  accusative.  i 

B.C.,  in  the  usual  sense,  occurs  | 
only  where  there  can  be  any  1 
doubt.  All  the  Biblical  dates  j 
in  these  volumes  are  B.C. 

/em.  =  feminine. 

Hip/u  =  Hiph'il 

imp/.  =  imperfect. 

impv.  =  imperative. 

masc.  —  masculine, 

Ni.  =  Niph'al. 

pass.  =  passive. 

per/.  =  perfect. 

part.  =  participle. 

Pu  =  Pi'el. 

prep.  =  preposition. 

pron.  =  pronoun. 

AJSL.  ^  American   Journal  of 
Semitic  Languages. 


ABBREVIATIONS. 
I.  General. 

1  COT.  ^Cuneiform  hisaiptions 
and  the  O.  T.,  by  E.  Schrader, 
translated  by  O.  C.  White- 
house. 

A'-^r.W-The  third  edition  of 
the  same  (really  a  new  work) 
by  Winckler  and  Zimmern, 
1902. 

Z)5.  =  Hastings'  Dictionary  of 
the  Bible. 

ENCYC.  BIB.  =  Encyclopaedia 
Biblica  (Cheyne). 

G.  K.  =  Gesenius'  Hebrew 
Grammar,  edited  by 

Kautzsch,  Oxford,  1898. 

P55yi.  =  Proceedings  of  the  So- 
ciety of  Biblical  Archaeologj'. 

SDB.  =  Hastings'small  Diction- 
ary of  the  Bible. 


Hiph.,  Ni.,  and  Pi.  denote  forms  of  the  Hebrew  verb  which 
express  (most  commonly)  the  following  modifications  of  the  simple 
idea  of  the  verb  (i.e.  the  Qal)  :  causative,  passive,  and  intensive 
respectively. 

J  (Jahwist),  E  (Elohist),  JE  (Jehovist),  D  (Deuteronomist), 
and  P  (Priestly  Writer)  stand  for  the  authors  of  the  documents 
on  which  the  Pentateuch  (or  Hexateuch)  is  supposed  to  be 
chiefly  based. 

2.  Texts  and  Versions. 
I.  Hebrew. 


M.  T.  =  Massoretic  Text.  (That 
of  the  ordinary  vocalized  He- 
brew Bible.) 

550r.=  Sacred  Books  of  the 
O.  T.  (general  editor,  P. 
Haupt  ;  Ezra-Neh.,  edited  by 
Guthe-Batten). 

ket.  =  ketib.  (The  consonants 
and  the  implied  vowels  of  the 
Hebrew  Bible.) 

^f.  =q^re.  (The  text  as  emended 
by  the  Massorites.) 

Heb.  ^  Hebrew. 

2.  Greek. 
Z.^X=The  Septuagint. 
Aq.  =^  Aquila. 
Theod.  -  Theodotion. 


Sym.  =  Symmachus. 

Lwc.  =  The  Lucian  recension  of 

the  LXX:  closer  to  the  M.T. 

than  the  LXX. 
I  Esd.  =  I  Esdras  (Apocrypha). 

Esdras  A  of  the  LXX,  3  Es- 

dras  of  the  Vulgate. 

3.  Latin. 

Jero.  =^  Jerome. 
Vuig.  =  Vulgate. 

4.  English. 

A.V.  =  Authorized  Version. 

R.  F.  =  Revised  Version. 

£".  Fr.  =  The    above   two  Ver- 

sions. 
O.  r.  =  01d  Testament. 
N.  r.-The  New  Testament. 


36  EZRA   AND    NEHEMIAH 

The  Arabic  {Saadid),  Ethiopic,  and  Syriac  (Pesh.)  versions  have 
been  constantly  consulted  in  Walton's  Polyglot.  For  Targum  I 
(Targ.')  on  Esther  Walton's  Polyglot  and  BuxtorPs  Rabbinical 
Bible  have  been  used.  Cassel's  edition  of  Targum  II  (Targ.^)  has 
been  the  one  referred  to. 

COMMENTARIES. 

A  large  number  of  Commentaries  in  various  languages  have 
been  consulted,  but  below  will  be  found  those  to  which  the 
present  writer  feels  himself  most  indebted. 

Ber.  =■  Bertheau. 

Berihol.  =  Bertholet  (in  Marti). 

Ber.-Rys.  =  Bertheau-Ryssel. 

Gtithe-Batten  (SBOT.  for  the  text). 

Jahn,  G.,  1909. 

Kamphausen  in  Bensen's  Bibelwerk. 

Kautzsch  =  Die  Heilige  Schriff. 

Keil. 

Oettli  in  Strack-ZSchler. 

Rawl.  =  Rawlinson  in  Speaker  s  Commentary. 

Ryle  in  Cojnbrtdge  Bible. 

Schidtz  in  Lange. 

Siegfned  in  Nowack. 

OTHER  LITERATURE  REFERRED  TO. 

Seethe  histories  of  Jost,  Herzfeld^^)^  Ewald^s)^  Graetz  W,  Stade, 
Schurer  (^>,  Wellhausen  (^^,  A,  Klostermann,  Guthe,  the  edition 
used  being  indicated  by  the  bracketed  index  number  after  the  name. 
Adeney,  W.  F.  :  '  Ezra.  Nehemiah,  and  Esther,'  Expositors  Bible, 

Cheyne  :  Jewish  Religtotis  Life  after  the  Exde,  1898. 

Geissler  :  Die  litter.  BezieJmngen,  Sec,  1898. 

Hoon.  =  V.    Hoonacker  :    Neh^mie    et  Esdras,    1890;    Nouvelles 

J^tudes,  &c.,  1896. 
Howorth,  H.  :  Articles  in  Academy  (1893,  &c.)  and  in  Proceedings 

of  Society  of  Biblical  Archaeology. 
Jamp.  —  Jampel,    Sigmund,   Die    Wiederherstelhuig   Israels,   1904. 

Contains  useful  matter,  but  ill  digested  and  often  inaccurate. 
Kalisch,  Heilige  Schrift. 

Kamp.  =  Kamphausen  in  Bunsen's  Bibelwerk. 
Kent,  C.  F.  :   The  Studenfs  Old  Testament,  1905,  &c. 
Kosters,  W.  H. :  Die  Wiederheystelhmg,  &c.  (from  the  Dutch,  1895). 
Kuenen-Budde  :   Gcs.  Abhandlungen,  1894. 

Marquart  :  Fttndamcnte  israelitischer  imd jiidischer  Geschichte,  1896. 
Mej-cr,  E.  :  Die  Entstehuug  des  Judenthums,  1896;  Die  Geschichte 

des  Alterthums,   Band  iii,  T901. 


INTRODUCTION  37 

Mommert,  C.  :    Topographic  des  alten  Jerusalem^  Thcile  i-iv,  igoo- 

1907. 
Nikel,  J.  :  Die  Wicderherstelluyig  des  jiidischen  Gcnieinivesens  iiach 

dcm  babylonischen  Exit,  1900. 
Sayce  :  Introd.  to  Ezra-Nch.,  ^885. 

Sellin  :  Seriibbabel,  1898;  Studien  ztir  Entstehung,  Sec.  ii,  1901. 
Smend,  R. :  Die  Listen,  &c.,  i88i. 
Smith,   G.   Adam  :   Jerusalem  from  the  Earliest  Times  to  a.d.  70, 

2  vols.,  1908. 
Smith,  W.  Robertson  :  Religion  of  the  Semites  <'^^ ;   The  O.  T.  in  the 

Jewish   Church^^);    The   Prophets   of  lsraeW^>  \    Kinship    and 

Marriage  among  the  Arabs  <■->. 
Torrey,  C.  T. :    Composition   and  Historical  Value  of  Ezra-Neh. 

Also    articles    in   American  Journal   of  Soniiic  Languages 

(1908-9). 


NOTATION  OF  SOURCES  (seep.  12  ff.). 

T  =  Temple  records. 

Ta  =  Temple  records  in  Aramaic. 

C  =  City  records. 

Ca  =  City  records  in  Aramaic. 

E  =  Ezra,  autobiographical  parts. 

Ce  =  City  records  dealing  with  Ezra's  work. 

Te  "Temple  records  dealing  with  Ezra's  work. 

N  =  Nehemiah,  autobiographical  parts. 

Cn  =City  records  dealing  with  Nehemiah's  work. 

R  =  Parts  due  to  a  Redactor  or  to  Redaction. 

It  is  assumed  that  the  preceding  sources  have  been  all  more  or 
less  edited  by  R. 

The  addition  of  R  to  the  symbol  for  a  source  means  that  the 
source  has  been  edited  in  an  unusual  degree. 

U  =  Unknown  sources. 

N.B.  When  renderings  are  given  words  put  in  brackets  are 
added  to  make  the  sense  clearer,  but  are  not  represented  directly 


PROVINCE  OF  JUDAH  AFTER  THE  EXILE. 


V^Samaria 
--'-,  ""•SRechami  N,^ 

R  0  V  INC  E    W-    \ 

SAMARIA 


"Jlodein  Bethel 

Seeroth        «, 
non»  °     • 

u„.„„«  •Miciimesh 

■^°'°"  6ibeon.,<-geba  je-rrc^i 
„._„<lV'    Msmaveth 
,.'■     ,.Notf    ---■.. 
••'1--''        Jerusalem'""' 
Tiriat-JeBrim 

p1r  O  V  I  N  C  E 
..j-jh.'-       'Bethlehem 
Beth-hakkerernOF 

vPeilah         J  ^^^°l  „ 
'Beth-zur       "n 


Hebron 


\Ne  iiopal 


English  Miles 


The  Persian  Province  (or  Governorship)  of  Judah,  itself  a  part 
of  the  Satrapy  of  Transpotamia  (see  on  Ezra  ix.  8)  was  subdivided 
into  districts  (Heb.  pe/ek),  of  which  eight  are  mentioned  in  Neh.  iii 
(verses  g,  12,  14,  15,  16,  17,  19)  and  a  ninth  is  implied  (cf.  second 
half  of  Beth-zur,  ver.  16).  There  might  have  been  others.  Judah 
and  Samaria  seem  to  have  been  separate  provinces,  each  with 
its  own  governor,  though  at  times  (as  before  the  advent  of  Ezra 
and  Nehemiah)  the  governor  of  Samaria  had  jurisdiction  over 
Judah  also,  as  in  the  case  of  Rehum  ^^see  pp.  85.  170,  and  260). 


EZRA 

I-VI.  History  of  the  Return  of  the  First  Batch  of 
Exiles  from  Babylon  and  of  the  Events  which  im- 
mediately followed.    Date  :  538  (first  year  of  Cyrus)  to  516. 

For  analysis  of  this  section  see  Introd,,  p.  5,  and  for  a  dis- 
cussion of  the  sources  see  Introd.,  p.  12  ff.  It  is  quite  clear  that 
neither  Ezra  nor  Nehemiah  had  anything  to  do  with  the  com- 
position of  these  chapters,  the  whole  of  which,  with  the  exception 
of  Ezra  iv.  6-23,  belongs  to  a  period  more  than  half  a  century 
before  Ezra  appears  on  the  scene. 

Ezrai(i  Esd.  ii.  1-14).  Cyrus  authorizes  and  encourages  the 
Jews  of  Babylon  to  return  to  Jerusalem  and  to  rebuild  the  Temple. 

Cyrus  (Heb.  Koresh  ;  Bab.  Kiirash  ;  Pers,  Kunish)  was  prob- 
ably a  Persian,  and  therefore  an  Aryan,  for  in  an  inscription 
Darius  Hystaspis  speaks  of  '  Cambyses,  son  of  Cyrus  one  of 
our  race.^*  Both  Cyrus  ^  and  Darius  n  were  descendants  of 
Achaemenes  ;  but  Darius  describes  himself  as  a  '  Persian,  son  of 
a  Persian,  an  Aryan,  of  Aryan  descent,* '  so  that  Cyrus  must 
also  have  been  a  Persian  and  an  Aryan.  Sayce,  on  the  other  hand, 
maintains  that  Cyrus,  as  originally  king  of  Anshan  (or  Anzan)  in 
Elam,  was  an  Elamite  ;  but  being  king  of  a  province  of  Elam  is  no 
proof  of  Elamite  nationality  (see  Sayce,  Records  of  the  Past, 
2nd  series,  v.  144  ff.,  and  DB.  *  Cyrus ').  Cyrus  is  called  also  King 
of  Babylon,  of  Sumer,  and  of  Akkad.  There  is,  however,  no  cer- 
tainty where  exactly  Anshan  was,  though,  since  de  Morgan's  dis- 
coveries, Assyriologists  agree  that  it  bordered  on  Susa  and  Southern 
Babylonia.  If  of  Elamite  origin,  Cyrus  was  by  upbringing  a  poly- 
theist ;  if  of  Persian  origin  he  would  be  a  Zoroastrian,  and  as  such 
well  disposed  to  that  policy  of  toleration  of  other  religions  which 
we  rightly  connect  with  his  name. 

When  king  of  Anshan  he  overcame  the  Persians,  becoming 
king  of  both  Anshan  and  Persia.  •  With  his  augmented  forces  he 
marched  against  the  Medes,  now  greatly  weakened  through 
attacks  by  Lydians  and  nomad  tribes  of  Scythian  race.  He 
now  aimed  at  augmenting  his  kingdom  and  securing  its  greater 
safety  bj'  adding  to  his  conquests  that  of  Babylon.  Nabonidus,  the 
last  king  of  Babylon,  had  estranged  his  subjects  in  the  provinces 
by  his  policy  of  removing  the  local  gods  to  Babylon,  just  as 
Hezekiah  had  given  offence  to  his  country  subjects  by  a  similar 
policy  in  Palestine  (see  2  Kings  xviii.  22]  ;  religious  centralization 
being  in  both  cases  regarded  as  the  prelude  to  political  centraliza- 


*  See  the  Behistun  inscriptions,  i.  10. 

^  Records  of  the  Past,  ix.  p.  67.      ^  lb.,  p.  79,  &c.      "*  lb.,  p.  75. 


40  EZRA 

tion.  Babylonians  were  on  the  whole  glad  to  welcome  Cyrus 
and  his  forces,  knowing  as  they  did  that  the  '  great  King'  allowed 
and  even  encouraged  every  people  to  worship  their  ancestral 
gods  and  to  continue  the  worship  and  sacrifice  which  had  come 
down  to  them. 

Cyrus  and  his  army  entered  Babylon  without  opposition  in  538, 
though  according  to  Greek  writers  (the  Babylonian  priest  Berosus, 
Xenophon,  &c.)  the  Babylonians  resisted  and  fought  to  the  last. 

The  historicity  of  the  edict  of  Cyrus  has  been  generally  ques- 
tioned or  denied,  as  by  Kosters,  Guthe,  Torrey,  and  Cheyne,  who 
hold  that  there  was  no  return  under  Cyrus  ;  and  also  by  many 
who  admit  that  such  a  return  took  place,  as  Wellhausen,  Renan, 
Bertholet.  It  is  said  by  Kosters  and  others  that  those  parts  of 
Ezra  which  ascribe  to  Cyrus  the  decree  referring  to  the  return 
from  Babylon  and  the  rebuilding  of  the  Temple  are  inventions  of 
the  Chronicler  to  confirm  what  is  said  of  Cyrus  in  Isa.  xli.  25, 
xHv.  28,  xlv.  I,  &c.  Cf.  Joseph.,  Antiq.  xi.  i.  2.  But  why,  then, 
does  not  the  Chronicler  make  Cyrus  concern  himself  about  the 
rebuilding  of  the  city  walls  as  well  as  the  Temple  ?  Moreover,  it 
is  said  that  the  Chronicler  ascribes  to  Cyrus  his  own  sentiments, 
making  the  Persian  king  a  follower  of  Yahweh,  deeply  solicitous 
about  the  interests  of  Judaism  and  its  institutions.  But  recently 
discovered  cuneiform  inscriptions  have  taken  off  the  edge  of  this 
objection,  for  in  them  Cyrus  speaks  the  language  of  the  peoples 
he  conquered.  Thus,  when  writing  for  Babylonians  he  says 
that  the  god  Marduk  had  called  him  to  be  king,  and  he  ascribes 
his  success  in  war  to  the  other  Babylonian  deities  Bel  and  Nebo. 
What  Cyrus  is  made  to  say  of  Yahweh  in  Ezra  i.  2  is  very  strange 
until  we  find  it  and  much  else  that  in  the  narrative  surprises  us 
matched  in  inscriptions  which  have  come  down  to  us  (see  p.  14  f.).^ 
The  Chronicler  may  be  regarded  as  using  here  and  generally  in 
Ezra-Nehemiah  older,  and  in  the  main  reliable,  sources. 

It  was  the  policy  of  the  kings  of  Babylon  to  deport  conquered 
people  and  to  replace  them  by  loyal  subjects  from  the  near 
territory.  It  was  the  policy  of  Cyrus  and  of  his  successors  to 
encourage  each  subject  race  to  retain  its  ancestral  faith.  Assum- 
ing that  Cyrus  was  a  Zoroastrian,  he  might  see  in  the  gods  of 
other  religions  nothing  more  than  the  one  supreme  good  spirit. 
Ahura  Mazda,  who  manifests  himself  in  fire  and  light ;  in  that 
case  the  seemingly  compromising  language  ofver.  2  and  of  many 
of  the  inscriptions  would  but  represent  the  king's  broader  con- 
ceptions and  wider  faith.     See  further  on  vi.  1-12. 

*  Note  how  in  the  third  Sachau  papyrus  Bagohi  (Greek  Bagoas), 
the  Persian  governor  of  Judah,  in  granting  the  request  of  the  Jews 
at  Yeb,  speaks  of  Yahweh  as  the  '  God  of  heaven '  and  promises 
that  the  Temple  shall  be  rebuilt  and  the  sacrifices  restored. 


EZRA  1.  I.     T  41 

[T]  Now  in  the  first  year  of  '^  Cyrus  king  of  Persia,  that 
the  word  of  the  Lord  by  the  mouth  of  Jeremiah  might  be 
accomplished,  the  Lord  stirred  up  the  spirit  of  Cyrus 
*  Heb.  Coresh. 


1-4.  The  edict  of  Cynis.  See  i  Esd.  ii.  1-7.  In  Ezra  vi.  3-5 
we  have  another  version,  perhaps  the  very  words  preserved  in 
Aramaic  in  the  temple  archives  :  see  on  these  verses. 

i-3a  agree  almost  verbatim  with  the  last  two  verses  of 
Chronicles  :  see  Introd.,  p.  4. 

1.  JTow:  in  Heb,  the  particle  usually  translated  'and.'  Its 
presence  here  is  no  necessary  proof  of  an  original  connexion 
between  this  verse  and  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  21.  The  so-called  'waw 
consecutive  '  forms  became  independent  tense  inflexions  implying 
in  many  cases  no  connexion  with  what  has  gone  before.  See 
A.  B.  Davidson,  Syntax,  §  47. 

first  year  of  his  rule  over  Babylon,  i.e.  538.  It  was  the  twenty- 
first  year  of  his  reign  over  Anshan.  The  inscriptions  show  that 
Cyrus  reckoned  his  reign  from  Nisan  after  he  conquered  Babylon. 

king*  of  Persia  :  though  this  title  is  most  commonly  used  after 
the  Persian  kingdom  had  ceased  to  be,  i.  e.  after  331,  yet  it  occurs  in 
the  contemporarj'  Cyrus  inscription,  column  24,  and  is  not  therefore 
necessarily  a  proof  of  late  date.  In  their  memoirs  Ezra  and  Nehe- 
miah  have  simply  'the  king,'  e.g.  Ezravi.  i4,vii.  27f.,  &c.;  Neh.i.  11. 

toy  the  moutlx  of  Jeremiali :  the  reference  is  to  Jer.  xxix. 
10,  where  Yahweh  promises  at  the  end  of  seventy  years  to 
restore  his  exiled  people.  Assuming  that  the  exile  commenced 
in  606.  the  seventy  years  would  expire  in  536,  which  may  be  the 
first  year  referred  to  in  this  verse,  reckoning  from  the  time  when 
Darius  the  Mede  ceased  to  exercise  joint  rule  with  Cyrus.  But 
we  have  here  to  do  probably  with  a  round  number. 

accomplished:  lit.,  'come  to  an  end.'  The  Hebrew  word 
(rendered  '  finished  ')  is  used  also  in  Dan.  xii.  7,  of  the  fulfilment 
of  prophecy.  God's  predictive  word  ceases,  as  such,  when  the 
event  foretold  has  come  to  pass. 

(the  Iiord)  stirred  up  the  (spirit  of  Cyrus)  :  lit. 
'  awakened,'  '  roused  '  ;  the  same  verb  in  ver.  5.  2  Chron.  xxi.  16, 
and  in  Jer.  xli.  11.  The  Chronicler  ascribes  Cj'rus's  resolve  to 
permit  the  Jews  to  return  to  Divine  suggestion.  Such  is  also  the 
view  taken  by  the  post-exilic  prophet,  the  'great  unknown,'  in 
Isa.  xlv.  13.  Josephus  (Atitiq.  xl.  i.  i  f.)  saj'S  that  Cyrus  was 
prompted  by  his  reading  of  those  parts  of  ii  Isa.  in  which  his 
name  and  predicted  work  appear  :  see  Isa.  xliv.  28,  xlvi.  i ;  cf. 
xli.  28.  The  name  by  which  Cyrus  designates  Yahweh  =  '  Yahweh 
(Israel's  own   God  who  is  identical   with  the)   God  of  heaven  ' 


42  EZRA  1.  2,  3.     T 

king  of  Persia,  that  he  made  a  proclamation  throughout 

2  all  his  kingdom,  and/?//  it  also  in  writing,  saying,  Thus 
saith  Cyrus  king  of  Persia,  All  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth 
hath  the  Lord,  the  God  of  heaven,  given  me;  and  he 
hath  charged  me  to  build  him  an  house  in  Jerusalem, 

3  which  is  in  Judah.     AVhosoever  there  is  among  you  of  all 

(the  God  whom,  as  seen  in  the  sun,  &c.,  I  as  a  Mazdaist  worship). 
See  for  the  title  '  God  of  heaven '  v.  11  f.,  vi.  9  f.,  vii.  12,  21,  23  ; 
Neh.  i.  4  f.,  ii.  4,  20.  This  designation  occurs  in  the  Sachau 
Papyri :  see  i.  2,  28,  &c.  It  is  found  also  in  Persian  inscriptions. 
made  a  proclamation :  lit. '  he  caused  (a  herald)  to  pass  (the) 
message  '  :  the  expression  occurs  in  post-exilic  hterature  only  : 
see  X.  7  ;  Neh.  viii.  15  ;  2  Chron.  xxx.  5  ;  Exod.  xxxvi.  5  (P). 
See  on  viii.  21. 

2.  All  tlxe  king'doms,  &c. :  it  has  been  objected  that  Cyrus  could 
not  have  used  such  language,  and  that  the  words  are  those  of  the 
Chronicler.  But  in  cuneiform  inscriptions  Cyrus  expresses  himself 
in  a  very  similar  way  concerning  the  principal  Babylonian  god 
Marduk,  who  had  called  him  when  king  of  Anshan  to  be  '■  king  of 
the  world.'  See  column  12,  'Cyrus-cylinder.'  'Marduk  called 
Cyrus  and  led  his  hosts  towards  Babylon.'  'Without  fighting  or 
bloodshed  Marduk  brought  him  to  his  city  Babylon.'  '  I,  Cyrus, 
am  king  of  the  world,  the  great  king,  the  mighty  king,'  &c.  To 
Bel  and  Nebo  (see  Isa.  xlvi.  i ;  Jer.  1.  2)  he  ascribes  much  of  his 
success.  It  is  unscholarly  and  unfair  to  look  at  what  is  said  of 
Cyrus  and  by  him  in  the  O.  T.  without  also  considering  his  general 
attitude  towards  nations  whom  he  had  subdued  and  the  contem- 
porary language  in  which  he  is  made  to  express  himself  in  inscrip- 
tions which  must  have  received  his  sanction. 

he  hath  charged  me  to  huild  him.  an  house  :  Cyrus  is  repre- 
sented in  more  than  one  inscription  as  restoring  to  their  original 
homes  or  temples  the  local  gods  brought  by  Nabonidus  to  Babylon  ; 
this  would  involve  a  restoration  also  of  the  local  shrines.  He  is 
also  made  to  say  '  I  left  the  gods  of  Sumer  and  Accad  uninjured 
according  to  the  command  of  Marduk  my  great  lord.' 

3.  Render  freely  :  '  Whoever  there  is  of  His  (Yahweh's)  people 
among  you  (my  Persian  subjects)  [that  is  minded  to  depart]  may 
his  God  be  with  him  and  let  him  go  up  to  Jerusalem  which  is  in 
Judah,  that  he  may  build  (^^  rebuild)  the  house  of  Yahweh, 
Israel's  God,  that  is  the  God  whose  special  abode  is  in  Jerusalem.' 

Whosoever  .  .  .  people :  i.  e.  whatever  exiles  from  the 
Southern  Kingdom,  Cyrus  could  hardly  have  in  his  mind  or 
have  any  knowledge  of  the  Northern  Israelites  deported  into 
Assyria,  &c.,  by  Sargon.     His  concern  is  with  the  restoration  of 


EZRA  1.  4.     T  43 

his  people,  his  God  be  with  him,  and  let  him  go  up  to 
Jerusalem,  which  is  in  Judah,  and  build  the  house  of 
the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel,  ^  (he  is  God,)  which  is  in 
Jerusalem.     And  whosoever  is  left,  in  any  place  where  4 

"-  Or,  he  is  the  God  which  is  in  Jerusalem 

the  exiled  people  of  Judah  and  the  rebuilding  of  the  temple  de- 
stroyed by  Nebuchadnezzar.  Yet  there  is  reason  for  believing 
that  some  exiles  of  the  northern  tribes  returned  with  those  from 
the  south  :  see  i  Chron.  ix.  31  and  on  ii.  3.  As  ver.  3  stands, 
Cyrus  commands  all  Jewish  exiles  scattered  in  his  dominions  to 
return.  We  know  that  the  great  majority  elected  to  remain  in 
their  new  home  and  were  not  hindered  from  doing  so.  We  must 
no  doubt  add  to  the  commencement  of  ver.  3  the  words  in  square 
brackets  above  ;  they  occur  in  i  Esd.  ii.  3  (L  Codex)  and  are 
adopted  by  Guthe  (SBOT.),  Bertholet,  and  others.  See  for 
confirmation  ver.  5. 

(his  God)  be  (with  him) :  in  the  parallel  passage  2  Chron. 
xxxvi.  23  we  have,  '  his  God  will  be '  (Lord  =  Yahweh  is  a  textual 
error)  'with  him.'  So  the  LXX  in  the  latter  and  in  the  present 
passages. 

(he  is  God),  &c. :  omit  the  brackets  and  render  as  above. 
Yahweh's  temple  has  to  be  in  Jerusalem,  for  it  is  there  He  has 
chosen  to  make  Himself  specially  known  to  His  elect  people.  So 
the  Hebrew  accents,  the  R.  V.,  and  the  versions,  including 
I  Esd.  ii.  5,  though  the  Arab,  has  '  the  house  of  the  God  of 
Israel,  the  God  who  is  in  the  sanctuary ' ;  and  Luc.  omits 
the  phrase.  If  the  E.VV.  be  adhered  to,  the  sense  is  that  the 
'  house  of  Yahweh  ...  is  in  Jerusalem.'  The  former  is  the  likelier 
view.  The  worshippers  of  Yahweh  were  under  an  obligation  to 
re-erect  the  Jerusalem  temple,  for  He  dwelt  on  Mount  Zion.  See 
Ps.  ix.  II,  Ixxiv.  2,  Ixxvi.  2,  and  cf.  Psalms,  vol.  ii  (Century  Bible), 
additional  note  on  Zion.  In  ver.  4  and  elsewhere,  however,  the 
phrase  '  which  is  in  Jerusalem  '  (the  same  Hebrew  words  as  here) 
describes  Hhe  house  of  God,'  and  Ryle,  &c.,  prefer  this  sense 
(retaining  the  brackets)  here.  Perhaps  the  bracketed  words  are 
the  marginal  gloss  of  a  pious  reader  or  copyist, 

4.  This  verse  may  be  thus  paraphrased  :  '  Whoever  is  to  be  left 
behind  in  the  place  where  he  dwells  (because  he  lacks  the  neces- 
sary means,  though  he  has  a  mind  to  return  to  Jerusalem),  let  his 
fellow-countrymen  in  that  place  help  him,'&c.  Josephus  (Antiq. 
xi.  1. 1)  says  many  Jews  preferred  remaining  in  Babylon  with  their 
property.  The  verse  is  generally  interpreted  (so  Ryle,  &c.)  to 
mean  *  if  a  Jew  living  in  any  part  of  the  Persian  dominion  has 
the  mind  but  not  the  means  to  return,  let  his  non-Jewish  fellow- 


44  EZRA  1.5.     T 

he  sojourneth,  let  the  men  of  his  place  help  him  with 

silver,  and  with  gold,  and  with  goods,  and  with  beasts, 

beside  the  freewill  offering  for  the  house  of  God  which 

5  is  in  Jerusalem.     Then  rose   up   the  heads  of  fathers' 

citizens  supply  him  with  all  that  is  indispensable  for  the  journey ' ; 
and  Neh.  i.  sand  Hag.  ii.  3  are  adduced  in  support  of  this  render- 
ing. But  it  is  the  context  that  decides  the  shade  of  meaning  to 
be  given  to  a  word  in  any  given  place.  No  king  would  give 
such  a  command  as  this,  and  if  he  did  his  subjects  would  not 
obey,  Babylonians  or  others.  One  might  gather  from  Neh.  v.  i  that 
the  returned  exiles  were  not  much  helped  by  non-Jewish  people. 

is  left:  in  Hebrew  a  pass.  part,  such  as  frequently  has 
a  gerundial  force  :  'Whoever  would  have  to  be  left  behind'  (if 
not  helped). 

sojourneth :  the  verb  =  to  settle  in  a  country  not  one's  own 
and  to  have  substantially  the  rights  of  natives  :  see  on  Ps.  cxix.  19 
(in  this  Series). 

place :  probably  =  Jewish  quarter,  either  part  of  a  city  in 
which  Jews  dwell  together  (ghetto),  or  a  part  of  the  country 
cultivated  by  them,  as  may  be  found  now  in  Russia.  If  town  or 
city  were  meant  a  suitable  word  would  have  been  employed. 
The  men  of  his  place  =  his  fellow  residents  in  the  same  Jewish 
quarter  or  locality. 

help:  the  Hebrew  verb  is  the  intensive  (Pi.)  form  of  the 
verb  =  to  lift  up,  and  has  here  the  sense  to  support,  to  aid,  as  in 
viii.  36  ;  Esth.  ix.  3  ;  i  Kings  ix.  11. 

silver  and  . .  .  gold:  to  purchase  food,  &c.,  during  the  journey. 

goods :  camp-baggage,  articles  of  furniture  such  as  were 
necessary.  The  same  word  occurs  in  viii.  21  ;  x.  8,  and  in  Gen. 
xiii.  6.  Guthe  read  the  cognate  word  found  in  Esth.  viii.  8,  10, 
rendered  in  the  E.VV.  'swift  steeds,'  but  meaning  post  or 
saddle    horses ;    so  Luc.  and   i    Esd.  ii.   6. 

beasts,  meaning  animals  for  carrying  the  baggage  (pack- 
horses,  mules,  camels,  asses'. 

freewill  offering:  i.e.  gifts  of  money,  &c.,  towards  the 
expense  of  rebuilding  the  Temple  :  see  viii.  28  ;  2  Chron.  xxxi.  14. 
The  same  word  is  used  of  gifts  towards  the  building  and  furnishing 
of  the  tabernacle  in  Exod.  xxxv.  29;  xxxvi.  3.  We  are  not  to 
understand  here  (with  Bertholet)  free  willing  offerings  such  as 
even  non-worshippers  were  allowed  to  present  as  sacrifices 
in  the  Temple.  See  Schurer^^>,  ii.  300  ff.  (E.V.  ii.  i.  299  ff.)  and 
cp.  the  act  of  Alexander  the  Great  in  sacrificing  at  Jerusalem. 

5-7.  Many  Jews  avail  themselves  of  the  offer  of  Cyrus  and  return. 
5.  Render,  •  Then  arose  the  heads  of  the  fathers'  [houses]  of 


EZRA  1.  6.     T  45 

houses  of  Judah  and  Benjamin,  and  the  priests,  and  the 
Levites,  even  all  whose  spirit  God  had  stirred  to  go  up  to 
build  the  house  of  the  Lord  which  is  in  Jerusalem.    And  6 
all  they  that  were  round  about  them  strengthened  their 

Judah  and  Benjamin,  and  the  priests  and  the  Levites,  and  all 
whose  spirit  God  had  stirred  up  to  build  Yahweh's  house  (the 
Temple)  which  is  in  Jerusalem.' 

tlie  heads  of  fathers'  houses :  the  word  '  houses '  is 
understood  in  the  Hebrew,  and  must  be  supplied  in  English. 
The  full  phrase  occurs  in  Exod.  vi.  14.  A  Jewish  tribe  was 
divided  into  families  (or  clans),  each  family  (or  clan)  was  sub- 
divided into  houses. 

Judah  and  Benjamin :  according  to  the  older  tradition 
Judah  and  Judah  alone  constituted  the  Southern  Kingdom  (see 
I  Kings  xi.  13,  32,  36  ;  xii.  20  ;  but  in  the  latter  passage  the  LXX 
has  'Judah  and  Benjamin  '),  Though  Jerusalem  was  in  Benjamin, 
and  some  Benjamites  must  at  the  disruption  have  sided  with  the 
Southern  Kingdom  and  been  merged  in  it,  yet  as  a  whole  Ben- 
jamin was  joined  with  Israel.  We  have  here  the  later  tradition 
which  made  the  Southern  Kingdom,  and  therefore  the  returned 
exiles,  consist  of  these  two  tribes — Judah  and  Benjamin  :  see  also 
I  Kings  xii.  21  and  23,  and  Ezra  x.  9. 

I  Esd.  ii.  8  has  'families'  for  houses,  which,  as  coming  after 
'  tribes  ',  is  more  suitable  and  was  perhaps  the  original  word. 

the  priests,  and  the  Levites  :  according  to  Deuteronomy 
all  Levites  are  priests :  see  p.  18. 

even  (all) :  render,  'and.'  The  Hebrew  word  it)  is  usually 
construed  as  a  preposition  with  the  meaning  '  to.'  If  kept  it  is 
what  is  called  the  '  lamed  of  the  norm,'  defining  and  limiting 
what  precedes,  viz.  '  those  heads  of  houses  (or  families),  priests  and 
Levites  whose  heart,'  &c.  But  we  should  probably  read  with  the 
versions,  including  Esd.  ii.  8,  the  conjunction  '  and  '  {waw).  Not 
only  the  three  classes  enumerated  but  '  all  whose  hearts,'  &c. 
But  this  addition  implies  that  of  the  classes  named  only  those  are 
meant  who  were  similarly  moved  by  God. 

to  build  :  i.  e.  here  to  rebuild  :  see  Neh.  ii.  5, 

the  house  of  the  LORD  (God)  :  the  Chronicler's  common 
designation  for  the  Temple  :  see  iii.  4,  8  ;  vi.  22. 

6.  all  .  .  .  round  about :  i.  e.  the  Jews  who  elected  to  remain  : 
see  on  ver.  4. 

strengthened  their  hands :  render,  '  helped  them '  :  so 
Z.MC.,  Vulg.,  and  r  Esd.  ii.  9,  as  against  the  LXX,  S3'riac, 
Arabic,  which  render  the  Hebrew  literally.  The  same  phrase 
with  a  slight  difference  occurs  in  vi.  22  ;  Neh.  vi.  9.  Cf.  Isa,  xii.  15, 
where  the  simple,  not  as  here  the  intensive,  form  of  the  verb  is  used. 


46 

hands  with  vessels  of  silver,  with  gold,  with  goods,  and 
with  beasts,  and  with  precious  things,  beside  all  that  was 

7  willingly  offered.  Also  Cyrus  the  king  brought  forth  the 
vessels  of  the  house  of  the  Lord,  which  Nebuchadnezzar 
had  brought  forth  out  of  Jerusalem,  and  had  put  them  in 

8  the  house  of  his  gods ;  even  those  did  Cyrus  king  of 

vessels  of  silver :  read  and  render  '  with  every  kind  of 
thing,  with  silver,'  &c. :  so  Luc,  i  Esd.  ii.  9.  The  difference 
in  the  Hebrew  is  slight.  The  vessels  are  not  mentioned  before 
ver.  7.     But  the  M.T.  is  supported  by  the  other  versions. 

g-oods  .  .  .  "beasts  :  see  on  ver.  4. 

precious  thing's :  the  same  word  is  found  in  2  Chron.  xxi.  3, 
xxxii.  23  ;  Gen.  xxiv.  53.  The  enumeration  in  ver.  4  has  nothing 
corresponding  to  this,  and  it  is  likely  that  its  presence  here  is  due 
to  textual  corruption.  '  Gifts  '  is  the  rendering  of  the  LXX,  Syriac, 
Arabic.  Perhaps  we  should  read  and  render  '  freewill  offerings 
according  to  the  wealth  of  the  person  who  made  a  freewill  offering." 

beside,  &c. :  see  above. 

7-1 1.  Cyrus  restores  the  temple,  vessels  taken  to  Babylon  by 
Nebuchadnezzar} 

*J.  vessels:  these  had  been  removed  from  the  Jerusalem  temple 
on  three  different  occasions,  viz.  when  in  597  Jerusalem  was 
conquered  in  the  reign  of  Jehoiakim — the  most  valuable,  2  Chron. 
xxxvi,  7  ;  in  the  end  of  597  when  Jehoiachin  was  made  prisoner, 
2  Kings  xxiv.  13;  and  587,  in  Zedekiah's  reign,  2  Kings  xxv.  14  f. 
Here  the  first  are  more  particularly  and  perhaps  exclusively  meant. 

Nebnchaduezzar  :  see  on  ii.  i  and  Esther  ii.  6. 

house  of  his  g'ods  :  for  gods  substitute  '  god '  as  in  Dan.  i.  2, 
though  the  Hebrew  admits  of  both.  Marduk  (Merodach),  the 
principal  deity  of  Babj'lon,  is  the  one  meant.  Only  one  temple 
is  mentioned  :  had  '  gods '  been  intended  we  should  have  had 
houses '  (  =  temples).  In  Dan.  i,  2  the  same  phrase  is  explained 
(perhaps  in  a  marginal  gloss)  as  '  the  treasure  house  of  his  god,' 
i.  e.  a  part  of  the  temple  where  records,  money,  &c.  were  pre- 
served (see  DB.  'Treasury').  See  Neh.  x.  38.  In  Luc.  and 
I  Esd.  ii.  ID  we  have  'idol-temple,'  the  (one)  word  used  in 
I  Cor.  viii.  10.  In  2  Chron.  xxxvi.  7,  the  phrase  is  '  his  (the 
King's)  palace'  (not  temple  as  the  E.VV.  :  in  Chron.  the  word 
haykal  has  its  original  Assyrian  meaning  '  palace '  and  no 
other). 

8.  Render,  '  So  Cyrus,  King  of  Persia,  having  brought  them 

'  The  Jews  had  no  images  of  gods  to  be  restored  as  was  the  case 
with  other  peoples  who  had  now  come  under  Cyrus's  sway. 


EZRA  1 .  8.     T  47 

Persia  bring  forth  by  the  hand  of  Mithredath  the  trea- 
surer, and  numbered  them  unto  Sheshbazzar,  the  prince 

forth  (from  the  temple  treasury)  deHvered  them   into  the  charge 
{lit.  hand)  of  Mithredath  the  treasurer,  and  counted  them,'  &c. 

by  the  hand:  in  the  Luc,  and  in  i  Esd.  i.  ii  a  verb  precedes, 
'gave'  (Luc.)  or  '  deHver '  (i  Esd.),  and  it  is  to  be  restored  with 
Guthe,  &c.,  to  the  M.T.,  and  the  whole  phrase  rendered  as  above. 

Mithredath:  a  Persian  word  meaning  '  dedicated  to  Mithra' 
(the  Persian  sun-god).  The  same  name  appears  in  Roman  history 
(cp.  Mithridates,  King  of  Pontus). 

the  treasurer:  i.e.  the  person  in  charge  of  the  treasure- 
house.     See  on  v.  17. 

Sheshbazzar:  a  Persian  official,  though  a  Babylonian  by 
race,  as  his  name  {  =  S/iamash-bal-ttsur,  i.e.  Sun-god  protect 
the  son^)  suggests.  Previous  to  the  victories  of  Cyrus  this 
man  had  probably  been  a  high  official  of  the  Babylonian  govern- 
ment, and  so  besides  having  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the 
royal  treasures  he  would  have  a  large  knowledge  of  Jewish  people 
with  whom  he  must  have  had  to  do.  He  seems  to  have  been 
appointed  to  execute  the  King's  decree  in  the  first  instance,  to 
hand  over  moneys,  temple  vessels,  &c.,  to  divide  the  territoiy,  and 
to  make  the  first  general  preparations  for  the  rebuilding  of  the 
temple.  Having  performed  these  preliminary  tasks,  he  probably 
returned  to  Babylon,  leaving  the  control  of  things  to  his  successor 
Zerubbabel,  who  was  a  Jew,  and  in  the  direct  line  of  descent 
from  David,  for  he  was  grandson  of  Jehoiachin,  King  of  Judah 
(i  Chron.  iii.  17).  Both  Sheshbazzar  (Ezra  v.  14)  and  Zerubbabel 
(Hag.  i.  I,  &c.)  are  called  '  Governor  of  Judah,'  the  same  Hebrew 
word  being  used.  Had  our  records  not  been  so  scanty,  many  of 
them  being  lost,  we  should  have  been  informed  of  the  circum- 
stances under  which  Zerubbabel,  the  Jew,  succeeded  Sheshbazzar, 
the  Babylonian.  We  know  that  Zerubbabel  was  the  governor  in 
520,  when  through  the  preaching  of  Haggai  and  Zechariah  the 
rebuilding  of  the  temple  was  resumed.  Moreover,  Zerubbabel 
was  one  of  those  who  came  with  the  first  batch,  see  ii.  2,  so  that 
he  was  a  contemporary  of  Sheshbazzar,  and  at  first  probably  a 
subordinate  official.  In  Greek  the  name  appears  variously  as  Abas- 
saros  (Joseph,  x.  r.  3)  ;  Sassabassaros,  &c.  (LXX)  :  Sabasare{Luc.)  ; 
Sanabassar  (i  Esd.  ii.  15,  &c.).  Imbert,  Renan,  Kosters,  and  E. 
Meyer  identify  him  with  Shenazzar,  son  of  King  Jeconiah(=  Jehoi- 
achin), see  I  Chron.  iii.  17  f.  In  that  case  he  was  Zerubbabel's 
uncle  and  also  a  Jew.  But  there  is  no  evidence  of  that  identity  ;  not 
a  word  in  accounts  of  either  to  suggest  relationship  with  the  other. 

^  So  Fried.  Del.,  v.  Hoonacker,  and  Sayce.  E.  Meyer  {Die  Ent- 
stehung,  &c.,  j6  i.),  however,  and  others,  reading  Shenazzar 
(Sanabassar)  identify  with  Sin-bal-usur,  i.e.  *  O  Sin,  protect  the  son.' 


4-8  EZRA   1.  9,  10.     T 

9  of  Judah.     And    this    is   the    number   of  them :  thirty 

chargers  of  gold,  a  thousand  chargers  of  silver,  nine  and 

I o  twenty  knives;    thirty  bowls  of  gold,  silver  bowls  of  a 

That  Sheshbazzar  and  Zerubbabel  are  but  two  names  of  one 
individual  is  assumed  by  Joseph.  {Antiq.  xi.  i.  5"),  and  by  the 
author  of  i  Esd.  (see  vi.  18),  and  is  the  view  held  generally  in 
former  times  (Ewald,  &c.)  and,  to  a  considerable  extent,  at 
present  (Ryle,  &c.).  The  tendency  of  later  writers  is  to  make 
the  two  names  stand  for  two  men  :  so  Renan,  Kosters,  Stade, 
Kuenen,  Wellhausen,  Cheyne,  Meyer,  Klostermann,  Guthe,  and 
Siegfried.  In  favour  of  this  is  the  fact  that  two  names  are  used, 
both  of  them  common  Babylonian  names,  not  as  was  formerly 
thought  one  Hebrew^  and  the  other  Babylonian ;  and  that  in 
ch.  V.  (cp.  verses  2,  15)  a  distinction  is  clearly  made.  Yet  it 
must  be  admitted  that  the  evidence  is  not  very  decisive  either  way. 
Kuenen^  thinks  Sheshbazzar  never  was  governor,  the  passages 
stating  or  implying  that  he  was  being  inaccurate.  But  this  is  to 
make  history,  not  to  construct  it  out  of  existing  materials. 

9.  charg-ers:  render  'libation  cups,'  the  original  word,  oc- 
curring here  only  in  the  O.T.,  seems  to  be  a  loan-word  from 
the  Greek  KctpraXXos  '■  a  basket,'  unless  the  Greek  word  comes  from 
a  similar  one  with  a  similar  meaning  in  Semitic  (Arabic,  Aramaic, 
Ethiopic),  or  from  the  Persian.  Basket-shaped  libation  cups  are 
what  is  probably  meant :  see  i  Chron.  xxviii.  17  :  they  were  used 
for  pouring  forth  the  drink  offering :  cp.  Exod.  xxv.  29.  This  is  the 
rendering  of  I  Esd.  ii.  13.  The  LXX  and  Luc.  translate  'wine 
coolers,'  referring  to  the  shape  probably.  Perhaps  the  word  has 
a  more  general  sense  and  includes  also  the  'basons'  used  for 
dashing  sacrificial  blood  against  the  altar.  See  i  Chron.  xxviii. 
17  ;  2  Chron.  xxix.  22. 

knives  :  render  '  censers '  :  the  word  in  M.T.  occurs  nowhere 
else,  and  the  sense  is  for  that  reason  indeterminate,  though  the 
root  in  this  case  has  the  appearance  of  being  Semitic  if  not  Hebrew. 
The  original  text  had  probably  the  Hebrew  word  for  'censers' 
found  in  i  Kings  vii.  50,  2  Chron.  iv.  22  :  this  does  not  differ  much 
from  the  M.T.,  and  it  is  implied  in  i  Esd.  ii.  13,  though  Syr.,  LXX, 
and  Luc,  have  'changes'  (of  garment),  a  sense  suggested  by  the 
root  of  the  Hebrew  word  which  =  to  change. 

10.  bowls :  so  I  Esd.  ii.  13  {phiak).  Et3'mology  (which  is, 
however,  uncertain)  suggests  the  meaning  'covered'  or  'lidded 
vessel,'  '  tankard  '  :  but  the  sense  of  the  word  and  the  purpose 
of  the  vessel  implied  are  obscure.  The  LXX  and  Luc.  trans- 
literate, Rashi  and  Ibn  Ezra  say  that  the  word  has  here  the 
same  sense  as  that  translated  'basons'  in  i  Chron.  xxviii.  17. 

^  Ges.  Abhandlungen  (Budde),  220  f. 


EZRA  1.  u.     T  49 

second  sort  four  hundred  and  ten,  and  other  vessels  a 
thousand.     All  the  vessels  of  gold  and  of  silver  were  five  1 1 
thousand  and  four  hundred.     All  these  did  Sheshbazzar 
bring  up,   when  they  of  the  captivity  were  brought  up 
from  Babylon  unto  Jerusalem. 

second  sort :  it  is  almost  certain  that  the  Hebrew  word  is 
a  corruption  of  some  numeral  :  i  Esd.  ii.  13  has  '  two  thousand,' 
making  in  all  two  thousand  four  hundred  and  ten  bowls.  The 
other  versions  have  'double'  (LXX,  Luc.)  or  'second'  (Vulg.). 
Rashi  and  Ibn  Ezra  agree  with  the  E.VV.  But  silver  bowls 
would,  as  such,  be  different  from  gold  ones,  and  analogy  shows 
that  no  other  difference  is  intended.  The  last  part  of  the  word 
in  the  M.T.  agrees  with  the  last  part  of  the  word  for  '  two 
thousands '  in  unpointed  Hebrew,  and  by  substituting  this  the 
difficulty  in  reconciling  the  details  of  the  numerals  with  the  sum 
total  is  diminished  :  see  below. 

The  numerals  in  verses  9-1 1.  If  the  numbers  of  the  various 
vessels  named  in  ver.  9  f.  are  added  together  they  reach  a  sum 
total  of  2,499;  but  in  ver.  11  it  is  said  that  the  sum  total  reached 
is  5,400.  Many  attempts  at  reconciliation  have  been  made,  but  no 
one  has  commanded  or  deserves  much  confidence.  Keil  thinks 
the  mistake  lies  in  the  sum  total  and  not  in  the  details,  5,400  being 
written  for  2,500  by  a  transposition  of  the  5.  But  we  have  even 
then  2  for  4,  and  since  the  exact  numbers  are  given  for  the  items 
we  should  expect  the  same  to  be  done  for  the  summing  up. 
Besides,  all  the  versions  practically  agree  in  the  total  (i  Esd.  ii.  14 
has  5,469),  though  they  differ  somewhat  in  the  items.  For  thirty 
chargers  of  gold  i  Esdras  has  '  one  thousand,'  and  it  has  2,410  bowls 
instead  of  the  410  found  in  M.T.  and  in  the  remaining  versions. 
If  these  two  clianges  are  introduced  into  the  Hebrew  text  we 
get  the  same  total  as  in  i  Esdras,  viz.  5,469.  Perhaps  here  as 
elsewhere  the  Apocryphal  Ezra  preserves  the  true  text,  unless  we 
are  to  see  in  it  a  harmonistic  recension.  The  corruption  in  the 
M.T.  is  ancient,  since  the  versions  except  i  Esdras  follow  the  M.T. 

On  the  face  of  it  the  numbers  in  ver.  9  f.,  as  given  in  the  M.T., 
&c.,  are  more  plausible.  One  might  expect  the  number  of  gold 
vessels  to  be  fewer  in  each  case  than  the  number  of  silver  ones. 
In  I  Esdras  there  are  one  thousand  chargers  of  both  gold  and 
silver.  On  the  other  hand,  2,400  silver  bowls  (ver.  10)  are  very 
many  in  comparison  with  thirty  of  gold. 

The  gap  hetzveen  chaps,  i  and  ii.  It  is  strange  that  after 
informing  us  in  chap,  i  in  general  terms  of  the  departure  from 
Babylon  the  historian  should  tell  us  nothing  about  the  march,  its 
commencement,  the  line  of  route,  incidents  of  the  journey,  when 


50  EZRA  1,  2 

and  under  what  circumstances  the  arrival  took  place,  how  long 
the  journey  lasted,  Sec.  It  does  seem  as  though  a  section  of  the 
book  dealing  with  these  and  kindred  matters  has  been  lost,  and 
it  is  not  unlikely  that  Ewald,  Bertheau,  Ryssel,  Sellin,  and  others, 
are  right  in  seeing  a  fragment  at  least  of  that  section,  though  in 
a  mutilated  form,  in  i  Esd.  i-v.  i-6.  These  verses  are  in  the 
style  of  chap,  i,  and  bear  clear  traces  of  translation  from  a  Hebrew 
original.  Moreover,  in  their  present  setting  they  are  out  of 
place,  and  an  evident  interpolation  inserted  to  connect  the  legend 
of  the  contest  between  the  three  young  men  (i  Esd.  iii  f.) 
with  the  narrative  resumed  in  i  Esd.  v.  7.  Darius's  name  has 
been  inserted  in  place  of  the  original  Cyrus  to  make  the  piece 
fit  in  with  the  tv^o  preceding  chapters.  As  amended  by  Bertheau 
(who  omits  the  whole  of  ver.  5)  these  verses  read  as  follows  : 

'  I.  Afterwards  the  chiefs  of  fathers'  houses  were  chosen  to  go 
up  according  to  their  tribes,  together  with  their  wives,  sons, 
daughters,  menservants,  womenservants,  and  their  cattle.  2. 
And  Cyrus  (not  Darius)  sent  along  with  them  a  thousand  horse- 
men, to  bring  them  back  in  safety  to  Jerusalem,  with  musical 
instruments,  tabrets  and  llutes.  3.  And  all  their  brethren  played, 
and  he  caused  them  to  go  up  with  them  together.  4.  And  these 
are  the  names  of  the  men  who  went  up,  according  to  their  families, 
to  their  tribal  possessions  into  their  several  districts  ;  6.  in  the 
second  year  of  his  reign,  in  the  month  Nisan  which  is  the  first 
month  '  ( or,  ^  on  the  first  day  of  the  month  '). 

A  glance  at  the  map  (see  opposite  title-page)  will  show  that  the 
route  lay  first  of  all  NW.  towards  Carchemish,  then  turned  SW. 
and  S.,  thus  avoiding  the  almost  untraversable  regions  of  the  Syrian 
and  Arabian  deserts  (see  p,  169  f.  \  It  took  Ezra  and  his  companions 
four  months  to  compass  the  same  journey,  and  it  would  require  more 
rather  than  less  time  to  cover  this  distance  now,  as  the  way  would 
be  less  familiar  and  perhaps  less  safe.  If  we  accept  the  above 
addition  to  Ezra  i  it  will  be  seen  that  the  security  and  enjoyment 
of  the  travellers  were  well  seen  to,  as  the  latter  were  accompanied 
by  horsemen  and  musicians.  It  should  be  added  that  Schrader, 
Reuss,  Ryle,  Bertholet,  and  others  object  to  filling  up  the  gap 
between  i  and  ii  from  i  Esdras. 

II  (see  Neh.  vii.  6-73*  and  i  Esd.  v.  7-45).     List  of 

THOSE    WHO    RETURNED    IN    538. 

After  giving  a  description  of  the  royal  edict  authorizing  the 
return  to  Jerusalem  of  as  many  of  the  exiles  in  Babylon  as  had 
a  mind  to  go,  it  was  natural  to  add  an  account  of  those  who 
availed  themselves  of  the  offer  thus  given,  their  clans,  the  town- 
ships to  which  before  the  exile  their  families  belonged,  together 
with    statistical    information    regarding    the  number    of  laymen, 


EZRA  2  51 

Temple  officials,  &c.,  who  joined  in  the  procession.  Besides,  the 
privilege  accorded  by  Cyrus  was  confined  to  bona  fide  Jews,  and 
it  is  natural  to  think  that  this  list  was  drawn  up  in  Babylon, 
according  to  older  lists,  so  that  it  might  be  known  who  had  a 
right  to  join  the  returning  band,  though  in  cases  of  genuine  doubt 
the  side  of  those  making  the  claim  seems  to  have  been  favoured, 
see  verses  59-63.  Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  list  belongs 
primarily  to  this  period  it  bears  marks  of  having  been  edited  in 
later  times.  It  is  not  to  be  doubted  that  the  records  of  kings  and 
their  reigns,  including  genealogies,  &c.,  were  kept  in  the  Temple 
archives  at  Jerusalem  ;  and  when  the  Babylonians  conquered  the 
city  they  are  likely  to  have  carried  them  to  Babylon  to  be  deposited 
in  the  Babylonian  archives.  Among  the  precious  things  which 
Cyrus  returned  to  the  Jews  when  he  became  their  king,  one  may 
include  as  many  of  these  old  records  as  could  be  found.  These 
would  be  helpful  in  drawing  up  the  lists  in  Ezra  ii  and  Neh.  vii. 

The  persons  mentioned  in  this  chapter  belong  to  the  following 
classes. 

1.  The  iivelvc  leaders,  including  Zerubbabel  and  Jeshua.  Though 
in  Ezra  ii.  2  only  eleven  are  named,  it  is  evident  from  the  paralleled 
list  in  Nehemiah,  i  Esdras,  and  from  other  considerations,  that 
originally  there  were  twelve  names.  Ewald  and  others  see  rightly 
in  this  a  desire  on  the  part  of  the  Jews  to  preserve  the  number 
twelve  in  their  national  organization.  They  were  now  but  two 
tribes,  but  they  were  guided  and  governed  by  twelve  princes. 

2.  The  laymen:  verses  3-35,  !|  i  Esd.  v.  5-35,  Neh.  vii.  8-38. 
(i)  Reckoned  by  clans,  verses  3-19.     The  Hebrew  phrase  is 

literally  'sons  of,'  which  means  'belonging  to,'  or,  'of  the  clan 
of,'  'Parosh,'  &c.  :  see  on  ii.  41. 

(2)  Reckoned  by  original  (or  present  actual  ?)  abode  of  the 
clan  :  verses  20-35. 

3.  Temple  ojjiciah  :  verses  36-57,  ||  1  Esd.  v.  24-35  ;  Neh.  vii. 
39-60. 

(i)  Priests:  verses  36-39. 

(2)  Levites :  ver.  40. 

(3)  wSingers:  ver.  41. 

(4)  Porters  (gate-keepers)  :  ver.  42. 

(5)  Nethinim  :  verses  43-54. 

(6)  Solomon's  servants  :  verses  55-58. 

4.  Those  0/  doubtful  Jewish  descent:  verses  59-63,  ||  1  Esd.  v. 
36-40  ;  Neh.  vii.  61-65. 

( i)  Laymen  :  ver.  59  f. 

(2)  Priests  :  verses  61-63. 

Meyer  (Entstehuug,  p.  i6o)  contends  that  those  of  undoubted 
Jewish  descent  belonged  to  the  tribes  of  Judah  or  Benjamin  (see 
on,  xi.  3-24,  25-36) ;  but  there  is  nothing  in  Ezra-Nehemiah  about 
tribes.     In  the  strict  sense  they  had  long  ceased  to  exist. 

E   2 


52  EZRA  2 

5.  Men  and  ivoimn  servants  :  ver.  65,  ||  i  Esd.  v.  41  ;  Neh.  vii.  67. 

Following  the  above  we  have  a  statement  of  the  sum  total  of 
the  persons  and  of  the  beasts  of  burden  (verses  64-67),  and  an 
enumeration  of  the  gifts  which  the  persons  brought  with  them  for 
the  Temple  (ver.  68  f.). 

This  list  occurs  not  only  in  this  chapter  and  also  in  the  parallel 
section  in  i  Esdras,  but  also  in  a  different  context  in  Neh.  vii ; 
though,  however,  the  sum  total  (42,360,  see  Ezra  ii.  64)  is  the 
same  in  all  the  three  lists,  there  is  considerable  divergence  as  to 
names  and  the  detailed  numbers.  In  no  case  do  the  separate 
items  when  added  up  reach  the  above  sum  total.  If  we  add 
together  the  number  given  of  the  several  classes  (laymen,  &c., 
verses  3-65 )  we  reach  the  following  results : 

In  Ezra  29,818. 

In  I  Esdras  30,143. 

In  Nehemiah  31,089. 

Learned  and  ingenious  attempts  have  been  made  to  reconcile 
these  figures  with  each  other  and  with  the  sum  total  in  which  all 
the  three  accounts  agree.  But  the  disagreements  are  no  doubt 
due  to  errors  of  copying,  easily  understood  and  commonly  met  with 
where  numbers  are  concerned.  The  divergences  do  not  touch  any 
matter  of  principle,  and  as  the  space  in  this  series  of  commentaries 
is  necessarily  so  limited  it  is  impossible  to  give  here  such  parallel 
lists  of  names  and  numbers  from  the  three  sources  (Ezra,  Esdras, 
Nehemiah)  as  may  be  seen  in  the  larger  commentaries  and  such 
as  any  reader  can  easily  compile  for  himself.  Important  diver- 
gences will  be  discussed  in  the  verses  where  they  occur.  It  may 
be  added  that  the  clearest  and  fullest  comparative  tables  of  the 
various  name-lists  of  Ezra,  Esdras,  and  Nehemiah  are  to  be  found 
in  Rudolf  Smend's  still  very  interesting  and  valuable  Die  Listen 
der  Biichey  Esra  iind  NeJicm.  ( Basel,  i88i).  The  proper  names  arc 
given,  however,  in  Hebrew  and  (in  i  Esdras,  &c.)  in  Greek. 

The  following  brief  general  remarks  are  all  that  can  be  found 
room  for  here  :  — 

I.  Personal  Clans:  verses  3-19.  The  clans,  families,  or 
houses  of  Ezra  ii.  3-19  are  subdivisions  of  tribes  called  after 
persons  who  are  supposed  to  have  founded  them,  though  we 
know  but  little  of  most  of  the  persons  named.  Since  they  occur 
in  a  similar  order  here,  in  viii.  1-4,  x.  18-44,  ^"<^  i^i  Neh.  vii, 
X.  1-27,  we  may  infer  that  they  are  mentioned  in  the  order  of 
honour,  though  this  is  purel}^  a  subjective  inference,  and  it  may 
be  weakened  by  the  fact  that  the  places  in  the  next  part  of  the 
list  occur  also  in  a  uniform  order. 

The  names  of  many  of  the  men  after  whom  the  clans  are 
designated  here  occur  in  later  lists  (see  above),  from  which  it 
may  be  concluded  that  they  are  not  names  of  persons  who  accom- 
panied Zerubbabel  and  his  party. 


EZRA  2  53 

It  seems  almost  certain  that  the  clans  mentioned  in  these 
chapters  existed  in  Bab3'lon,  and  even  in  the  period  before  the 
exile.  We  are  not  to  suppose  that  all  the  members  of  the  clans 
came  away  in  538,  leaving  no  representatives  in  Babj'lon.  7'he 
contrary  was  undoubtedly  the  case,  and  in  favour  of  this  is  the 
statement  in  Ezra  viii.  13  that  with  Ezra  the  final  batch  of 
the  Adonikam  clan  arrived  leaving  none  behind  them  :  see  Ezra  ii. 
13,  which  says  that  666  men  of  the  clan  came  with  Zerubbabel  to 
Jerusalem. 

2.  Local  Clans  :  verses  20-35.  Some  clans  seem  to  have  been 
designated  according  to  their  original  homes,  and  it  might  be 
permitted  to  call  these  local  clans,  though  the  name  is  a  new  one 
and  carries  with  it  the  writer's  opinion  that  the  Hebrew  phrase 
'sons  of  or  'men  of  a  village  or  town  has  the  same  sense  as 
'sons  of  a  man,  i.e.  it  denotes  a  clan.  In  ii.  27  f.  and  in 
Neh.  vii.  26-33  the  common  phrase  is  'men  of  (cf.  i  Esd.  vi. 
18-21).  Guthe  holds  that  wherever  'clans'  are  meant  the  phrase 
'  sons  of '  was  originally  prefixed  ;  the  phrase  'men  of  denoting 
the  people  of  a  district.  See  SBOT.  26 ff.  He  therefore 
attaches  ii.  29-32  and  35  immediately  to  Ezra  ii.  19,  as  they 
describe  clans.  But  'men  of  =  'sons  of  in  Hebrew,  both 
phrases  meaning  'belonging  to,'  &c.  And  in  the  verses  which 
he  would  remove,  most,  if  not  all,  of  the  names  are  place-names. 
It  is  noteworthy  that  the  places  enumerated  are  nearly  all  in  the 
immediate  vicinity  of  Jerusalem.  Ewald  (v.  88  ;  Germ.  iv.  104) 
held  that  the  original  decree  of  Cyrus  authorizing  a  restoration 
referred  only  to  Jerusalem  and  the  neighbourhood  close  to  it,  the 
rest  of  Judah  being  held  by  the  Edomites  (see  Mai.  i.  4  ;  Obadiah). 
But  nowhere  in  the  books  of  Ezra-Nehemiah  are  the  Moabites 
mentioned  as  foes  of  Judah  :  and  moreover,  among  the  places  are 
some  not  very  near  to  Jerusalem,  as  e.  g.  Bethel,  Ai. 

3.  Lay  and  Clerical.  From  Ezra  ii  and  Neh.  vii  (cf.  Neh.  ix. 
38)  it  may  be  concluded  that  the  lay  element  took  precedence 
over  the  clerical,  being  named  first.  We  have  a  confirmation  of 
this  in  the  order  Zerubbabel-Joshua  in  every  instance  of  the  two 
names  coming  together  (about  12)  except  one  (Ezra  iii.  2). 

In  the  later  form  of  the  lists  in  Ezra  viii,  x  and  Neh.  x  mem- 
bers of  the  clerical  class  come  first,  suggesting  that  in  the  course 
of  the  century  following  the  first  return  there  was  a  gradual 
increase  of  clerical  influence. 

The  number  of  Levites  who  came  with  Zerubbabel  and  with 
Ezra  was  relatively  small,  though  in  the  time  of  Nehemiah  some 
of  them  occupied  important  positions  (see  Neh.  iii,  17  ff.). 

The  high-priesthood  is  but  seldom  spoken  of  or  implied  in  these 
books:  see,  however,  p.  114  f. 

As  regards  the  origin  and  value  of  the  lists  in  Ezra  ii  and 
Neh.  vii  opinions  may  be  arranged  as  follows  : — 


54  EZRA  2 

1.  That  these  and  the  other  lists  in  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  are  due 
to  the  vivid  imagination  of  the  Chronicler,  who  compiled  them  on 
the  bases  of  some  real  genealogies  to  fill  up  the  picture  which  he 
paints  of  the  return  under  Cyrus  and  the  restoration  of  religious 
institutions  before  the  time  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah.  So  Torrey 
(^The  Composition  and  Historical  Value  of  Ezra-Nehemiah),  Well- 
hausen,  and  others.     In  reply  note — 

(i)  The  same  list  is  used  on  two  different  occasions,  viz. 
Ezra  ii  and  Neh.  vii, 

(2)  That  in  Neh.  vii  the  list  occurs  as  part  of  the  Nehemiah 
memoirs,  which  are  about  the  most  certainly  genuine  portion  of 
the  two  books. 

2.  The  bulk  of  Old  Testament  scholars  accept  the  list  as 
authentic. 

According  to  the  old  and  the  majority  of  modern  commentators 
and  historians,  the  primary  place  of  the  list  is  in  Ezra  ii.  This  is 
what  the  natural  reading  of  the  text  suggests,  and  it  is  so  suitable 
in  this  connexion  that  it  is  better  to  adhere  to  this  view  unless 
there  are  insuperable  obstacles  in  the  way.  The  list  is  taken  up 
in  Neh.  vii  because  it  was  needed  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining 
who  could  trace  their  descent  from  the  first  returned  exiles.  This 
is  the  view  defended  by  Keil,  Bertheau,  Ryssel,  Baudissin, 
Budde,  &c. 

Many  recent  scholars  maintain  that  the  original  place  of  the 
list  is  in  Neh.  vii  as  part  of  the  memoirs  of  Nehemiah,  and  that 
it  has  been  misplaced  in  Ezra  ii,  where  it  has  no  proper  con- 
nexion with  what  precedes  or  what  follows.  So  Graetz. 
Kosters,  Lord  A.  J.  Harvey,  Guthe,  E.  Meyer,  and  Sellin.  Lord 
Harvey  states  the  case  for  this  view  fully  and  clearly  in  the 
Expositor,  1893,  vol.  iii.  431-42  ;  but  his  arguments  do  not 
carry  conviction  to  the  present  writer.  They  are  chiefly  that  in 
Neh.  vii  the  list  fits  in  well — I  hold  it  suits  in  Ezra  ii  :  that  the 
Tirshatha  in  Ezra  ii.  63  can  mean  no  other  than  Nehemiah,  which 
is  exactly  the  opposite  of  the  truth  :  see  on  that  verse. 

Moreover,  the  animals  mentioned  in  Ezra  ii.  66  are  suitable  in 
the  connexion  there  implied  ;  they  are  horses,  mules,  camels,  and 
asses,  such  as  would  be  needed  for  the  journey  to  carry  persons 
and  baggage.  In  Neh.  vii  we  should  have  expected  the  mention 
of  animals  for  food  and  for  sacrifice  if  the  list  belongs  primarilj' 
to  that  chapter. 

In  I  Esd.  V.  4  the  list  is  given  as  if  those  who  went  up  to 
Jerusalem  from  Babylon  did  so  in  the  reign  of  Darius  (i.e.  Darius 
Hystaspis,  521-486).  This  is  no  doubt  to  reconcile  the  chron- 
ology of  this  chapter  with  the  interpolated  passage  about  the  con- 
test between  Darius's  three  pages  (iii  f.). 


EZRA  2.  I,  2.     T  55 

^  Now  these  are  the  children  of  the  province,  that  went  2 
up  out  of  the  captivity  of  those  which  had  been  carried 
away,  whom  ^  Nebuchadnezzar  the  king  of  Babylon  had 
carried  away  unto  Babylon,  and  that  returned  unto  Jeru- 
salem and  Judah,  every  one  unto  his  city ;  which  came  with  2 
*  See  Neh.  vii.  6,  &c.  ^'  Heb.  Nehuchadnezzor. 

1-2.  Heading  to  the  List. 

1.  children  of  the  province:  in  Semitic  'sons'  (the  word 
here  employed)  is  used  for  '  people  belonging  to.'  The  province 
is  that  of  Judah  (see  ver.  8  ;  Neh.  i.  3,  xi.  3),  now  a  sub-satrapy  of 
Transpotamia  (see  on  Esther  i.  i),  having  Jerusalem  for  capital  and 
Sheshbazzar  and  afterwards  Zerubbabel  for  governor.  Here  the 
reference  jis  to  natives  of  that  province  taken  to  Babylon  by 
Nebuchadnezzar,  who  now,  as  far  as  living,  together  with  their 
descendants,  accepted  the  king's  offer  and  left  for  Jerusalem. 

captivity :  the  Hebrew  word,  though  abstract,  is  used  for  the 
community  of  Jews  in  exile  in  Babylon,  though  the  bulk  of  these 
now  in  Bab3'lon  had  been  born  in  that  country.  This  chapter 
tells  of  as  many  of  the  Babylonian  Jews  as  came  with  Zerubbabel 
in  the  time  of  Cyrus.  Very  many  preferred  remaining  in  their 
adopted  home.  Of  course  those  who  with  Kosters  and  Cheyne 
deny  there  was  any  return  under  Cjtus,  are  compelled  to  explain 
away  this  verse  and  its  context. 

Nebuchadnezzar  :  RVm.  *  Heb.  Nehuchadnezzor,'  which  may 
also  in  unpointed  Hebrew  have  been  the  spelling  in  i.  7,  where 
the  M.T.  has  final  ar,  as  in  the  E.VV.  (cf.  LXX  Nabtichodonosor,. 
In  the  original  Babylonian  the  form  is  Nabu-htdiirri-usttr  (  =  '0 
Nebo  protect  the  boundary'),  with  which  corresponds  more 
nearly  the  form  Nebuchadrezzar  found  in  parts  of  Jeremiah  and 
throughout  Ezekiel.  In  late  Hebrew  r  and  v  often  interchange 
(cf.  bar  =  ben  =  son). 

Jemsalem  and  Judah  =  the  capital  and  the  rest  of  Judah,  the 
former  named  separately  on  account  of  its  importance.  The 
common  phrase  is,  however.  'Judah  and  Jerusalem':  see  iv.  6, 
v.  T,  vii.  14,  &c.     In  Noh.  vii.  6  the  order  is  as  in  this  verse. 

every  one  unto  his  city:  i.  e.  the  city  to  which  his  clan  be- 
longed. The  words  must,  however,  be  understood  freely,  and  with 
reference  to  a  later  time  when  the  account  was  written  ;  what  is 
stated  here  was  actually  done  as  far  as  was  and  became  practicable. 
In  Neh.  vii.  7  and  in  ||  i  Esdras  twelve  leaders  are  mentioned, 
and  not  eleven,  as  here.  It  is  probable  that  Nahamani  has  fallen 
out  of  this  verse  through  a  copyist's  mistake.  As  to  the  number 
twelve,  see  remarks  introductory  to  this  chapter,  p.  51. 


56  EZRA  2.  3-6.     T 

Zerdbbabel,  Jeshua,  Nehemiah,^Seraiah,  ^'Reelaiah,  Mor- 
decai,  Bilshan,  c  Mispar,  Bigvai,  ^  Rehum,  Baanah.    The 

3  number  of  the  men  of  the  people  of  Israel:  the  children  of 

4  Parosh,  two  thousand  an  hundred  seventy  and  two.  The 
children  of  Shephatiah,  three  hundred  seventy  and  two. 

5  The  children  of  Arab,  seven  hundred  seventy  and  five. 

6  The  children  of  Pahath-moab,  of  the  children  of  Jeshua 

^  In  Neh.  vii.  7,  Azariah.  ^  In  Neh.  vii.  7,  Raamiah. 

''   In  Neh.  vii.  7,  Mispereth.  ^  In  Neh.  vii.  7,  Nehum. 

2.  Zernbbabel :  not  yet  governor  :  he  is  but  one  of  twelve  leaders. 
Sheshbazzar  was  governor  during  the  journey  and  for  some  time 
after.  The  name,  which  means  '  seed  '  or  '  offspring  of  Babylon,'  is 
a  common  Babylonian  one,  as  the  inscriptions  show.  He  was  son  of 
Shealtiel  according  to  iii.  2  ;  Hag.  i.  i,  12,  14,  ii.  2,  and  Matt.  i. 
12.  But  in  I  Chron.  iii.  18  f.  he  appears  as  son  of  Pedaiah,  brother 
of  Shealtiel.  Perhaps  Shealtiel  died  without  issue  and  his  brother 
Pedaiah,  contracting  a  Levirate  marriage  with  his  sister-in-law,  be- 
came the  father  of  Zerubbabel,  who  would,  however,  be  reckoned, 
according  to  the  law,  son  of  Shealtiel.  See  further  on  v.  i  f.,  and 
as  to  Zerubbabel's  descent  on  i  Chron,  iii.  19  in  Century  Bible. 

Jeslxua:  called  Joshua  (the  older  form)  in  Hag.  i.  i,  &c.  ; 
Zech.  iii.  i,  Sec.  In  Neh.  viii.  17  the  well-known  Joshua,  son  of 
Nun,  is  called  by  this  (in  Hebrew  the  shorter)  name.  He  was 
son  of  Jehozadak  and  grandson  of  the  high-priest  Seraiah  :  see 
I  Chron.  vi.  14  f.  (Heb.  v.  40  f.)  and  2  Kings  xxv.  18  ff.  Though 
high-priest,  he  and  Zerubbabel  formed  with  the  other  ten  a  kind 
of  cabinet  of  equal  leaders,  who  had  during  the  journey  and  imme- 
diately after  its  completion  to  decide  on  matters  of  consequence, 
subject  to  the  supreme  authority  of  Sheshbazzar,  the  governor. 

ITehemiali :  not,  of  course,  the  man  best  known  by  that  name. 
Cf.  Neh.i.  I.    This  was,  and  is,  a  common  name  among  the  Jews. 

Mordecai:  probably  identified  by  the  author  of  Esther  with 
the  Mordecai  of  that  book  (see  on  Esther  ii.  5,  6).  But  the  name 
( =  votary  of  Marduk)  was  and  is  a  com  non  one  among  Jews, 
notwithstanding  its  idolatrous  origin. 

people  of  Israel :  i.  e.  the  lay  portion  of  the  population.  In 
late  Hebrew  the  common  designation  for  the  unprofessional  class 
is  'the  people  of  the  land.'  The  word  'Israel'  (for  Judah)  is 
used  to  imply  that  the  tribes  to  which  the  exiled  belong  represent 
the  totality  of  God's  chosen  people. 

3-19.  Personal  clans.     See  preliminary  remarks,  p.  52  f. 

Q,  Pabath-moal):  lit.  'the  governor  of  Moab,' because  perhaps 


EZRA  2.  7-23.     T  57 

a7id  Joab,  two  thousand  eight  hundred  and  twelve.    The  7 

children  of  Elam,  a  thousand  two  hundred  fifty  and  four. 

The  children  of  Zattu,  nine  hundred  forty  and  five.    The  8,9 

children  of  Zaccai,  seven  hundred  and  threescore.    The  10 

children  of  ^  Bani,  six  hundred  forty  and  two.    The  chil-  n 

dren  of  Bebai,    six   hundred   twenty   and   three.     The  12 

children  of  Azgad,  a  thousand  two  hundred  twenty  and 

two.     The  children  of  Adonikam,  six  hundred  sixty  and  13 

six.     The  children  of  Bigvai,  two  thousand  fifty  and  six.  14 

The  children  of  Adin,  four  hundred  fifty  and  four.    The  15, : 

children  of  Ater,  of  Hezekiah,  ninety  and  eight.     The  chil-  1 7 

dren   of  Bezai,  three  hundred  twenty  and  three.     The  18 

children  of  '^  Jorah,  an  hundred  and  twelve.     The  chil-  19 

dren  of  Hashum,  two  hundred  twenty  and  three.     The  20 

children  of  cGibbar,  ninety  and  five.     The  children  of  21 

Beth-lehem,  an  hundred  twenty  and  three.     The  men  of  22 

Netophah,    fifty    and  six.     The    men   of  Anathoth,   an  23 

*  In  Neh.  vii.  15,  Bmntti.  ^  In  Neh.  vii.  24,  HarlpJi. 

*=  In  Neh.  vii.  25,  Gibeon. 


the  founder  of  the  clan,  or  he  after  whom  the  clan  was  named, 
held  the  position  of  governor  of  Moab  in  earh'er  daj's. 

12.  Azg'ad  :  the  number  here  is  1,222  ;  in  !i  i  Esd.  3,222  ;  in  Neh. 
vii,  2,322.     The  discrepancy  is  due  apparently  to  wrong  copying. 

13.  Adonikazu  :  a  part  only  of  this  clan  came  with  Zerubbabel ; 
the  part  that  remained  joined  Ezra's  part}'  :  see  viii.  13.  In 
Neh.  X.  16  the  name  appears  as  Adonijah. 

20-35.  Local  clans',  see  preliminary'  remarks,  p.  53.  Local  clans 
are  designated  *  son  of '  such  and  such  a  place.  In  ver.  27  f  the 
phrase  is  '  men  of,'  as  it  still  more  frequently  is  in  Neh.  vii  (see 
verses  26-33). 

20.  Gibbar  :  read  'Gibeon,'  as  in  Neh.  vii.  25.  The  modern 
village,  El-Jeb^  about  five  miles  north-west  of  Jerusalem,  stands  on 
the  same  site  and  preserves  in  a  corrupt  form  the  ancient  name. 
See  Josh.  ix.  3  f.  ;   i  Sam.  ii ;   i  Kings  iii.  4,  &c. 

22.  Zretophah  :  a  priestly  city  according  to  i  Chron.  ix.  16  ; 
generally  identified  with  the  modern  Beit  Neiief,  about  a  score 
of  miles  to  the  west  of  Bethlehem. 

23.  Anathoth  =-  the  modern  Aftdtd,  a  village  about  four  miles 


5§  EZRA  2.  24-31.     T 

24  hundred  twenty  and  eight.    The  children  of  «-  Azmaveth, 

25  forty  and  two.    The  children  of  ^  Kiriath-arim,  Chephirah, 

26  and  Beeroth,  seven  hundred  and  forty  and  three.  The 
children  of  Ramah  and  Geba,  six  hundred  twenty  and 

27  one.    The   men   of  Michmas,  an   hundred  twenty  and 

28  two.     The  men  of  Beth-el  and  Ai,  two  hundred  twenty 
29,  30  and  three.     The  children  of  Nebo,  fifty  and  two.     The 

31  children  of  Magbish,  an  hundred  fifty  and  six.  The 
children  of  the  other  Elam,  a  thousand  two  hundred  fifty 
*  In  Neh.  vii.  28,  Beth-azmaveth.       ^  \x\  Neh.  vii.  29,  Kiriath-jeanm. 

north-east  of  Jerusalem.     Jeremiah  was  born  at  Anathoth  (Jer.  i. 
I,  xi.  21).     See  Neh.  xi.  32. 

24.  Azmaveth :  see  Neh.  xii.  29 ;  in  i  Chron.  viii.  36  the 
name  of  a  person  belonging  to  the  house  of  Saul.  Perhaps  the 
place  was  named  after  the  person.  In  Neh.  vii  it  is  called  '  Beth- 
Azmaveth.'  It  has  been  identified  with  El-Hismeh,  an  eminence 
to  the  north  of  Anata. 

25.  Kiriath-arim,  Chephirah,  and  Beeroth  were  Gibeonite 
cities  (Josh.  ix.  17)  lying  to  the  north  of  Jerusalem. 

26.  Bamah  =  the  modern  er-Rdm,  some  six  miles  to  the  north 
of  Jerusalem.     It  was  the  home  of  Samuel  (i  Sam.  vii.   17). 

Geba  =  the  modern  y<?/i»a,  some  dozen  miles  north  of  Jerusalem, 
a  priestly  town  in  the  territory  of  Benjamin.  See  Josh,  xviii.  24, 
xxi.  17;  Neh.  xi.  31,  xii.  29. 

27.  Michmas  :  a  fortified  town  in  Benjamin,  seven  miles 
north  of  Jerusalem,  identified  with  the  modern  hill  Mukhmas. 
See  Neh.  xi.  31. 

28.  The  sites  of  Bethel  (now  Beiiiri)  and  Ai  (to  the  east  of  it) 
are  well  known  ;  they  are  about  one  and  a  half  miles  apart  and 
some  dozen  miles  north  of  Jerusalem,     See  Neh.  xi.  31. 

29  ff.  Guthe  (SBOT.)  would  place  verses  29-32,  35  im- 
mediately after  ver.  19,  but  without  sufficient  reason.  See  on 
'local  clans,'  p.  53. 

29.  Kebo :  called  in  Neh.  vii.  33  'the  other  Nebo'  to  dis- 
tinguish it  from  the  Moabite  town  of  the  same  name  (Num.  xxxii. 
3,  38),  though  the  word  'other'  is  omitted  in  Nehemiah  by  the 
LXX  (Siegf.).  We  do  not  know  where  the  Nebo  of  the  present 
verse  was,  though  some  have  identified  it  with  the  modern 
isawiyeh,  a  village  north  of  Jerusalem.  The  same  place  is 
mentioned  in  x.  43. 

31.  the  other  Blam :  the  Elam  of  ver.  7  seems  to  be  a  person. 
It  is  singular  that  the  personal  clan  of  ver.  7  has  the  same  number 


59 

and  four.  The  children  of  Harim,  three  hundred  and  33 
twenty.  The  children  of  Lod,  Hadid,  and  Ono,  seven  33 
hundred  twenty  and  five.  The  children  of  Jericho,  three  34 
hundred  forty  and  five.  The  children  of  Senaah,  three  35 
thousand  and  six  hundred  and  thirty.     The  priests  :  the  3^ 

as  the  local  clan  of  this  verse,  viz.  2,254.  Probably  ver.  7  was 
by  a  copyist's  mistake  repeated  here,  and  then,  to  try  and  give  it 
sense,  the  word  'other'  was  prefixed.  We  have  the  same 
apparent  duplication  in  Neh.  vii.  12,  33.  i  Esdras  omits  the 
second  mention  of  Elam  altogether,  following  probably  a  text  in 
which  ver.  33  was  lacking. 

32.  Harim:  another  town  (ver.  39)  bore  the  same  name. 

33.  IiOd  =  Lydda  (Acts  ix.  32,  &c.),  about  seven  miles  from 
Joppa  on  the  wa\'^  to  Jerusalem,  now  called  Lud.  It  is  not 
mentioned  in  pre-exilic  parts  of  the  O.T.,  but  is  named  in  the 
Palestinian  list  of  Thothmes  III. 

Hadid  ==  the  Apocryphal  Adida  (i  Mace.  xii.  38,  xiii.  13). 
It  was  a  fortified  city  on  the  east  of  the  Shephelah,  now  called 
El-khodithah. 

Ono:  a  village  somewhat  to  the  north  of  Lydda.  Its  modern 
name  is  Kefr  Ana. 

IiOdand  Ono  are  named  together,  as  here,  in  i  Chron.  viii.  12  ; 
Neh.  vii.  35,  and  xi.  35.  Neither  is  mentioned  elsewhere  in 
the  O.T. 

34.  Jericho :  now  called  er-Riha ;  about  nineteen  miles  from 
Jerusalem  due  east,  some  two  miles  west  of  the  Jordan,  near  to 
where  that  river  debouches  into  the  Dead  Sea. 

35.  Senaah:  since  the  inhabitants  of  this  place  assisted  in  the 
building  of  the  walls  of  Jerusalem  one  may  conclude  that  it  was 
near  to  Jerusalem  and  five  miles  to  the  north  of  Jericho,  as  Euse- 
bius  and  Jerome  held,  identifying  it  with  the  Magdalsenna  of  their 
da}'.     See  Neh.  iii.  3  f'  Has-sennah  '  = '  the  place  called  Sennah  ' ). 

36-57.  Temple  officials.  Among  those  who  returned  we  read  of 
priests,  Levites,  singers,  porters,  and  Nethinim,  but  no  separate 
reference  is  made  to  high-priests,  and  that  probablj'  because  no 
such  class  existed  until  after  the  exile.  (In  2  Kings  xii.  10  and 
xxii.  4,  8,  xxiii.  4,  the  word  '■  high  '  is  an  interpolation,  as  the 
context  proves.)  In  Ezra-Nehemiah  the  epithet  *  high-priest '  is 
used  of  Eliashib  onl}'-  (see  Neh.  iii.  i,  20,  xiii.  28%  though  '  high- 
priest  '  for  '■  priest '  in  Ezra  ii.  63  and  Neh.  vii.  65  would  suit  well. 
The  first  undoubted  occurrence  of  the  expression  '  high-priest '  is 
in  the  Books  of  Haggai  (i.  i,  &c.  '  and  Zechariah  (iii.  i,  &c.),  where 
it  is  applied  to  Joshua,  the  •  Jeshua  '  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  (see  on 
ver.  2).     The  omission  in  the  present  context  of  any  mention  of 


6o  EZRA  2.  37-40.     T 

children  of  Jedaiah,  of  the  house  of  Jeshua,  nine  hundred 

37  seventy  and  three.     The  children  of  Immer,  a  thousand 

38  fifty  and  two.     The  children  of  Pashhur,  a  thousand  two 

39  hundred  forty  and  seven.     The  children  of   Harim,  a 

40  thousand  and  seventeen.     The  Levites  :  the  children  of 

a  high-priest  is  an  incidental  confirmation  of  the  truth  of  the  story 
told  and  of  the  suitabiHty  of  the  list  in  Ezra  ii. 

36-39.  Priestly  clans.  The  four  priestly  clans  of  these  verses 
represent  probably  the  state  of  things  in  the  days  of  Ezra  and 
Nehemiah.  In  the  time  of  the  Chronicler  (see  i  Chron.  xxiv)  these 
four  classes  had  by  subdivision  and  perhaps  incorporation  ex- 
panded into  the  twenty-four  courses,  and  in  the  manner  of  this 
historian  these  courses  are  traced  all  the  way  back  to  David,  some 
seven  hundred  years  before  his  own  time  ! 

36.  The  Jedaiah  clan  formed  the  second  of  the  twenty-four 
courses  enumerated  in  i  Chron.  xxiv  (see  ver.  7). 

of  the  house  of  Jeshua :  for  the  form  of  the  name  see  on 
ver.  2.  The  sense  and  the  rhythm  of  verses  36-39  support  the 
view  of  Smend  and  Bertholet  that  this  clause  is  a  late  addition 
to  be  rejected.  It  has  caused  endless  trouble  to  commentators, 
no  two  of  whom  (if  independent)  seem  agreed  as  to  its  meaning.  If 
retained  this  Jeshua  cannot  be  the  high-priest  of  that  name,  for 
he  has  been  mentioned  in  ver.  2,  but  the  founder  of  a  large  class 
of  priests,  one  which  embraced  the  clan  Jedaiah. 

37.  Immer  appears  in  r  Chron.  xxiv.  14  as  sixteenth  of 
the  courses. 

38.  Pashhur  son  of  Immer  according  to  Jer.  xx.  i.  No 
course  of  that  name  is  mentioned  in  i  Chron.  xxiv. 

39.  Harim  :  another  clan  of  the  same  name  is  mentioned  in 
ver.  32.  See  Neh.  iii.  11.  In  i  Chron.  xxiv,  8  it  is  mentioned  as 
the  third  course.  In  Neh.  vii.  40-42  the  order  Immer,  Pashhur, 
Harim  is  as  in  the  present  section,  but  in  Ezra  x.  20-2  the 
order  is  Immer,  Harim,  Pashhur, 

40-58.  Levites  and  their  subordinates.  It  is  to  be  borne  in 
mind  that  the  term  *  Levites '  does  not  necessarily  or  even 
probably  go  back  to  an  historical  personality ;  Levi  is  never 
spoken  of  in  the  O.T.  as  an  actual  individual  but  once,  viz.  in 
Gen.  xxxiv.  And  it  is  the  fortunes  of  the  tribe  that  appear  to 
be  here  portrayed  under  the  name  of  its  eponymous  head  ;  as  is 
also  the  case  with  Simeon  in  the  same  chapter.  In  Gen.  xlix.  5-7 
the  same  events  are  connected  with  the  names  Levi  and  Simeon, 
though  in  this  case  it  is  made  quite  clear  that  the  tribes  are  meant. 

In  the  early  period  of  Israel's  history'  the  priesthood  was  not 


EZRA  2  6 1 

confined  to  any  one  tribe,  see  Judges  xvii,  xix.  In  2  Sam.  viii.  18 
David's  sons  are  priests. 

With  the  introduction  of  the  Deuteronomic  legislation  the 
priesthood  came  to  be  restricted  to  a  guild  or  class  called  the 
'  Levites,'  so  that  priests  and  Levites  came  to  be  sjmonymous, 
see  Deut.  x.  8f.,  xviii.  i  f.  ;  i  Kings  xii.  31.  The  Deuteronomic 
legislation,  involving  the  suppression  of  the  local  sanctuaries 
scattered  up  and  down  the  country,  meant  the  disestablishment  ol 
the  priests  who  officiated  at  these  sanctuaries.  Dcut.  xviii.  6-8  (cf. 
2  Kings  xxiii.  18)  enacts  that  these  priests  on  coming  to  Jerusalem 
are  to  be  received  into  the  Temple  priesthood  and  to  share  its 
status  and  emoluments.  For  some  unexplained  reason  (perhaps 
so  many  priests  were  not  required),  these  country  priests  were  not 
allowed  to  act  as  city  priests,  though  they  shared  the  revenues  of 
the  office  (see  2  Kings  xxiii.  8  f,).  It  is  in  Ezek.  xl.  45  f.  that  we  have 
the  earliest  distinction  between  the  priests  '  who  kept  the  charge 
of  the  house '  and  the  priests,  the  Zadokites,  who  of  the  Levites 
are  those  'who  approach  Yahweh  and  minister  to  Him.*  From 
Ezek.  xliv.  9-14  we  gather  that  the  Levites  were  believed  to  have 
been  guilty  of  idolatry,  though  the  high  places  were  as  much 
Yahweh  shrines  as  the  Jerusalem  Temple.  As  a  punishment  they 
are  degraded  and  permitted  to  perform  those  lower  offices  only 
of  the  Temple  which  had  been  previously  performed  by  foreigners, 
such  as  keeping  the  gates,  slaying  the  animals  for  sacrifice,  &c. 
In  Babylon,  where  in  the  absence  of  the  Temple  no  sacrifice 
could  be  offered,  the  distinction  between  these  originally  city  and 
country  priests  would  tend  to  be  obliterated.  Moreover,  in  the 
presence  of  a  common  foe,  politically  and  religiously,  all  Jewish 
parties  were  likely  to  cling  together.  One  may  from  this  under- 
stand the  reluctance  of  the  Levites  to  leave  Babylon  for  Jerusalem, 
where  their  priestly  inferiority  would  be  emphasized  and  made 
manifest.  Hence  only  seventy  Levites  returned  with  Zerubbabel, 
as  against  4,289  priests  (Ezra  ii.  36;  Neh.  vii.  43);  and  only 
thirty-eight  Levites  accompanied  Ezra  (Ezra  viii.  15-19).  So  in 
Nehemiah's  time  there  dwelt  in  Jerusalem  1,192  priests,  but  only 
204  Levites,  including  the  singers  (Neh.  xi.  10-18). 

In  the  P  code  the  inferiority  of  the  Levites  to  the  Zadokite  priests 
is  a  recognized  principle.  In  this  code  the  latter  are  dignified 
with  the  name  Aaronites,  the  inferior  Levites  not  being  now 
regarded  as  priests  proper  at  al4.  See  Driver  on  Deut.  xviii.  6-8 
and  the  references  there  given.  See  also  DB.  'Priests'  (Bau- 
dissin).  It  has  been  mentioned  by  Graf  and  most  later  writers  that  in 
all  the  older  sources  used  in  Ezra-Nehemiah  singers  and  porters  are 
treated  as  classes  outside  the  Levites,  but  that  the  Chronicler  him- 
self includes  all  under  the  general  name  'Levites':  see  Smend, 
Listen,  26 ;  Baudissin,  Pnestertum,  142  f.,  and  also  Einleiiitng^ 
p.  288,  where  he  answers  Torrey  ;  Torrcy,  Conipoaiiion ,  &c.,  22  f. 


62  EZRA  2 

The  facts  of  the  case  may  be  thus  briefly  stated. 

1.  It  is  in  post-exiHc  writings  of  the  Old  Testament  that  we 
first  read  of '  singers,'  '  porters,'  and  '  Nethinim,'  as  distinct  classes 
of  Temple  servants. 

2.  In  certain  parts  of  Ezra-Nehemiah  and  of  Chronicles 
it  is  implied  that  'singers,'  'porters,'  &c.,  stand  outside  the 
Levites,  so  that  they  are  named  separately ;  see  Ezra  ii.  40-42, 
70,  vii.  7,  24,  X.  23  f.  ;  Neh.  xi.  loff.,  xiii.  5,  10  ff,  ;  i  Chron.  ix. 
10  ff.  (cp.  Neh.  xi.  10  flF.,  which  is  almost  identical),  xv.  16  ff., 
xxiii-xxvi.  Koberle  and  v.  Hoonacker  deny  the  above  statement, 
maintaining  that  in  the  books  named  above  the  singers,  &c., 
appear  as  Levites. 

3.  In  other  parts  of  Ezra-Nehemiah,  and  Chronicles,  the 
Levites  seem  to  be  a  general  class  including  in  it  the  subordinate 
Temple  officials  named,  singers,  &c.,  as  in  i  Chron.  ix.  33;  Ezra 
iii.  10  ;  Neh.  xi.  17-22,  xii.  8,  24,  27  ;  2  Chron.  v.  12,  and  in  the 
genealogies  in  i  Chron.  vi.  16  f.     Cp.  Ezra  ii.  41. 

The  porters  are  never  formally  identified  with  the  Levites, 
though  in  i  Chron.  xxxiv.  9  we  read  of  the  '  Levites  who  kept 
the  doors' ;  but  see  2  Kings  xii.  9  (cp.  xxv.  18),  where  we  read 
of  ^priests  who  kept  the  door.'  Ezek.  xliv.  11  seems  to  show 
that  even  non-Israelites  could  act  as  door-keepers.  But  in  i  Chron. 
ix.  26  the  four  chief  porters  are  Levites,  and  in  the  genealogies 
the  porters  are  clearly  traced  to  Levitic  families,  as  are  the  singers, 
see  I  Chron.  xxvi.  i  (the  porters  are  Korahites,  i.  e.  Levites  ; 
cp.  2  Chron.  xx.  19,  &c.).  The  Chronicler  assigns  to  the  singers 
a  very  important  part  in  the  cultus  ;  see  2  Chron.  viii.  14  (cp. 
I  Chron.  xx.  16),  xx.  19  ff.,  xxix.  25  ff. 

Now  in  the  P  code  there  are  priests  and  Levites  and  no  others, 
the  latter  term  having  a  broad  sense  which  includes  all  the  lower 
officials.  Ezekiel  has  but  two  orders  of  Temple  officials,  though 
the  Aaronites  are  for  him  Zadokites  and  the  Levites  degraded 
priests.  It  is  under  the  influence  of  Ezekiel's  programme  and 
of  P  that  in  later  Hebrew  writings,  biblical  and  non-biblical,  the 
term  Levite  came  to  have  the  wider  meaning  of  all  Temple 
officials  other  than  the  priests.  This  is  the  conception  assumed 
in  the  Apocrypha,  in  the  writings  of  Josephus,  and  also  in  the 
Talmud,  w^hich  last  ascribes  to  the  Levites  the  two  functions, 
song  and  watching,  in  the  Temple. 

Ezra-Nehemiah,  and  especially  Chronicles,  are  made  up  of 
elements  representing  different  stages  of  religious  practice  and 
law ;  so  that  it  is  useless  to  seek  for  one  uniform  set  of  usages  in 
them.  Thus  in  parts  of  Chronicles  we  meet  with  the  D  phrase 
'the  priests  the  Levites,'  see  2  Chron.  v.  5,  xxiii.  18,  xxx.  27  ;  and 
Levites  are  made  to  perform  priestly  acts ;  see  2  Chron.  xxix.  34,  &c. 

It  may  be  added  that  modern  Judaism  follows  the  P  code  with 
its  implied  usages. 


EZRA  2.  41-43.     T  63 

Jeshua   and  Kadmiel,   of   the  children    of  » Hodaviah, 
seventy  and  four.    The  singers  :  the  children  of  Asaph,  an  41 
hundred  twenty  and  eight.     The  children  of  the  porters  :  42 
the  children  of  Shallum,  the  children  of  Ater,  the  chil- 
dren of  Talmon,  the  children  of  Akkub,  the  children  of 
Hatita,  the  children  of  Shobai,  in  all  an  hundred  thirty 
and   nine.     The  Nethinim :  the  children  of  Ziha,    the  43 
*  In  ch.  iii.  9,  Jiidah.     In  Neh.  vii.  43,  Hodevah. 

40.  Render,  '  the  Levites :  the  descendants  of  Jeshua  and 
(also)  of  Kadmiel  who  were  of  the  descendants  of  Hodaviah,'  &c. 

That  the  proper  names  Jeshua  and  Kadmiel  connote  families 
rather  than  individuals  is  proved  by  their  recurrence  in  Neh.  x.  9 
among  those  who  sealed  the  covenant  in  the  time  of  Nehemiah. 
The  same  remark  applies  to  the  other  names. 

of  the  children  of  Hodaviah:  this  clause  belongs  to  the 
descendants  of  Kadmiel  alone  ;  these  formed  a  branch  of  the 
descendants  of  Hodaviah  ;  see  on,  iii.  9. 

Hodaviah:  in  Neh.  vii.  43  Hodevah;  in  Ezra  iii.  9  Judah 
(a  textual  error;. 

41.  singers  :  the  earliest  mention  of  a  distinct  class  of  singers, 
though,  according  to  i  Chron.  xv.  17-24,  David  was  the  founder, 
see  p.  II  and  on  iii.  10. 

the  children  of  Asaph:  better  Asaphites.  We  do  not 
read  of  any  members  of  the  Heraan  and  Jeduthun  musical  guilds. 
The  word  'children,'  lit.  'sons,'  must  not  be  understood  in  the 
Western  sense.  'Son'  in  Semitic  means  having  the  property 
of,  thus  a  'son  of  wisdom'  is  a  'wise  man';  or  belonging  to, 
thus  'sons'  (children)  of  Asaph  denotes  persons  of  the  Asaph 
guild.     No  person  called  '  Asaph '  can  be  traced. 

an  hundred  twenty  and  eig'ht :  in  Neh.  vii.  44  one  hundred 
and  forty-eight. 

42.  The  children  of  the  porters  :  read  *  porters,'  or  better 
'  gate-keepers  '  :  see  on  last  verse.  In  Neh.  vii.  45  we  have 
simply  'the  porters.'  See  vii.  7  on  porters  ('door-keepers*  in 
the  R.  V.  of  I  Chron.  xxvi.  i).  See  general  note  to  verses  40-58. 
Cp.  Ps.  Ixxxiv.  10.  The  proper  names  stand  for  classes,  not 
individuals.     See  i  Chron.  ix.  17  and  Neh.  xi.  19. 

43-54.  The  Nethinim.  We  do  not  read  of  this  class  of 
Temple  servants  outside  the  books  of  Ezra-Nehemiah  except  in 
I  Chron.  ix.  2.  The  word  '  Nethinim  '  means  '  given  '  or  '  devoted 
to,'  i.  e.  to  God.  Their  non-Israelitish  origin  is  suggested  by  their 
foreign  names.  According  to  Jewish  tradition  they  are  identical 
with  the  Gibeonitcs  whom  Joshua  appointed  to  be  assistants  to 


64  EZRx\  2.  44-57.     T 

44  children  of    Hasupha,  the  children   of   Tabbaoth ;  the 
children  of  Keros,  the  children  of  ^  Siaha,  the  children  of 

45  Padon ;  the  children  of  Lebanah,  the  children  of  Haga- 

46  bah,  the  children  of  Akkub  ;  the  children  of  Hagab,  the 

47  children  of  ^  Shamlai,  the  children  of  Hanan  ;  the  children 
of  Giddel,  the  children  of  Gahar,  the  children  of  Reaiah  ; 

48  the  children  of  Rezin,  the  children  of  Nekoda,  the  chil- 

49  dren  of  Gazzam ;  the  children  of  Uzza,  the  children  of 

50  Paseah,  the  children  of  Besai ;  the  children  of  Asnah, 

51  the  children  of  Meunim,  the  children  of  c  Nephisim ;  the 
children  of  Bakbuk,  the  children  of  Hakupha,  the  chil- 

52  dren  of  Harhur  ;  the  children  of  ^  Bazluth,  the  children  of 

53  Mehida,  the  children  of  Harsha  ;  the  children  of  Barkos, 

54  the  children  of  Sisera,  the  children  of  Temah ;  the  chil- 

55  dren  of  Neziah,  the  children  of  Hatipha.     The  children 
of  Solomon's  servants  :  the  children  of  Sotai,  the  chil- 

56  dren  of  ©  Hassophereth,  the  children  of  ^  Peruda ;    the 
children  of  Jaalah,  the  children  of  Darkon,  the  children 

57  of  Giddel;  the  children  of  Shephatiah,  the  children  of 

^  In  Neh.  vii.  47,  Si'a.  ^  In  Neh.  vii.  48,  Salmat. 

<=  Another  reading  is,  NepJmsim.  In  Neh.  vii.  52,  Nephu- 
shesim.  ''  In  Neh.  vii.  54,  Bazlith. 

*  In  Neh.  vii.  57,  Sophereth.       ^  In  Neh.  vii.  57,  Perida. 

the  Levites  (see  Joshua  ix.  3-27),  but  Ezra  viii.  20  makes  David 
their  founder.  Many  other  theories  of  their  origin  and  functions 
have  been  put  forth.  Has  the  word  anj'  connexion  with  Nathan. 
the  name  of  the  well-known  high-priest  ? 

55-58.  The  children  of  (i.  e.  the  people  who  are)  Solomon's 
servants :  mentioned  in  conjunction  with  the  Nethinim  also 
(as  here)  in  Neh.  vii.  60,  xi.  3.  They  are  usually  regarded  as 
descendants  of  the  Canaanitish  tribes  conquered  by  Solomon  (see 
I  Kings  V.  i3\  but  really  nothing  certain  is  known  of  them  or 
of  the  Nethinim  except  that  they  assisted  the  Levites.  Baudissin 
{Priesierlhum^  142  f.)  thinks  the  words  'the  children  of  Solomon's 
servants'  is  simply  an  explication  of  Nethinim,  'even  the  chil- 
dren of  Solomon's  servants,'  but  there  are  two  distinct  lists  which 
show  that  distinct  classes  arc  intended. 


EZRA  2.  58-61.     T  65 

Hattil,  the  children  of  Pochereth-hazzebaim,  the  children 

of  »  Ami.     All  the  Nethinim,  and  the  children  of  Solo-  58 

mon's  servants,  were  three  hundred  ninety  and  two.   And  59 

these  were  they  which  went  up  from   Tel-melah,  Tel- 

harsha,  Cherub,  ^  Addan,  and  Immer  :  but  they  could  not 

shew    their   fathers'   houses,    and    their    seed,    whether 

they  were  of  Israel  :  the  children  of  Delaiah,  the  chil-  60 

dren  of  Tobiah,   the  children  of  Nekoda,   six  hundred 

fifty   and    two.     And    of    the    children  of   the  priests:  61 

the  children  of  c  Habaiah,  the  children  of  Hakkoz,  the 

children  of  Barzillai,  which  took  a  wife  of  the  daughters 

of  Barzillai   the   Gileadite,  and  was   called  after   their 

"  In  Neh.  vii.  59,  Amofi.  ^  In  Neh.  vii.  61,  Addon. 

^  In  Neh.  vii.  63,  Hobaiali. 

59-63.  Those  whose  claims  to  be  Israelites  and  priests  were  doubt- 
ful. We  have  here  a  good  illustration  of  the  exclusiveness  of  post- 
exilic  Judaism.  Though  however  these  families  failed  to  make  good 
their  claims  they  were  allowed  to  return  with  the  rest,  but  their 
names  do  not  occur  in  the  lists  of  Ezra  x.  25-43  or  of  Neh.  x.  15-28. 

59  f.  Doubtful  Israelites  who  returned. 

59.  The  proper  names  in  this  verse  stand  for  places  in  Babylon, 
though  whether  cities,  districts,  &c.,  or  where  they  were  situated, 
we  do  not  know.  None  of  these  names  belong  to  persons,  as 
these  last  are  enumerated  in  the  next  verse.  Some  join  Cherub- 
Addan-Immer  ;  thus  making  the  number  of  places  three,  corre- 
sponding to  the  three  clans  of  the  next  verse. 

fathers'  houses :  the  clans  or  tribal  subdivisions  :  see 
Neh.  i.  2,  18,  <?:c. 

their  seed:  their  line  of  descent.  They  could  not  show  to 
what  clans  they  belonged  or  that  they  were  truly  of  Israel  at  all. 
See  Ps.  xxii.  31 ;  Jer.  xxiii.  8. 

60.  Nekoda:  the  same  name  appears  among  the  Nethinim 
(ver.  48).  Perhaps  this  family  sought  to  be  enrolled  among  the 
full  Israelites. 

61-63.  Doiibtf id  priestly  families.  Such  as  claimed  the  rights  of 
the  priesthood  without  being  able  to  prove  their  priestly  descent. 

61.  Habaiah:  in  Neh.  vii.  63  '  Hobaiah,' the  difference  being  due 
probably  to  a  copyist.    Bacr  in  his  Hebrew  text  writes  both  alike. 

Kakkoz  :  see  i  Chron.  xxiv.  10. 

Barzillai:    see  2  Sam.  xvii.  27,  xix.  32-39;   i   Kings  ii.  7, 


66  EZRA  2.  62,  63.     T 

62  name.  These  sought  their  register  among  those  that 
were  reckoned  by  genealogy,  but  they  were  not  found  : 
therefore  ^were   they  deemed   polluted  and   put   from 

63  the  priesthood.     And  the  ^Tirshatha  said  unto  them, 

*  Heb.  ihey  were  polluted  frotn  ihe  priesthood.         ^  Ov,  governor 

A  wealthy  Gileadite  not  of  priestly  family,  but  a  daughter  of 
whom  married  a  priest,  retaining  for  her  family  the  name  for  the 
sake  of  the  inheritance.  The  descendants  of  such  a  marriage 
could  not  rightly  claim  the  priestly  office. 

62.  Render :  '■  These  sought  for  the  record  (lit.  writings)  of 
themselves  among  those  enrolled  in  the  genealogies;  but  it  was 
not  found  :  therefore  were  they  pronounced  polluted  (i.  e.  cere- 
monially unclean)  (and  so)  excluded  from  the  priesthood.' 

their  regfister:  ht.  'their  writing'  ;  the  Hebrew  word  is  a 
technical  one  for  the  roll  of  Israelites,  priests,  &c.,  which  had 
probably  been  kept  in  the  Temple  archives  from  the  ninth  cen- 
tury B.C.  onwards.     See  Ezek.  xiii.  9. 

among  (those,  &c.):  not  in  the  Hebrew,  but  to  be  restored 
here  and  in  Nehemiah.  It  is  hard,  if  not  impossible,  to  make  sense 
of  the  Hebrew  without  this  preposition,  and  the  change  in  the 
Hebrew  is  very  slight  (b  for  A). 

they  (were  not  found;  :  read, '  it '  (the  writing)  '  was,'  &c.,  as 
in  Neh.  vii.  64. 

polluted :  i.  e.  not  of  pure  priestly  descent.  There  is  no  allu- 
sion to  personal  moral  disqualification.  Of  course  their  exclusion 
from  the  priesthood  was  not  necessarily  final :  with  full  proof  of 
the  soundness  of  their  claims  these  doubtful  priests  would  be  rein- 
stated ;  and  a  similar  statement  applies  to  the  doubtful  Israelites. 

63.  Tirshatha:  should  be  written  Tarshatha  according  to 
the  Persian  original  word  which  is  a  passive  participle  = 
'feared,'  'revered';  so  Meyer,  Siegfried,  Bertholet  (not  as 
Lagarde  '  the  king's  representative '),  It  is  not  an  official 
title,  but  an  epithet  of  respect  (cf.  'your  excellence')  applied 
to  noblemen  and  high  officials.  Here,  and  in  Neh.  vii.  65,  70, 
it  is  applied  to  Sheshbazzar,  but  in  Neh.  viii.  9  and  x.  2 
wrongly  to  Nehemiah,  who  is  called  pekhah  (=  governor)  in 
Neh.  xii.  26.  It  used  to  be  thought  that  tirshatha  has  in  Persian 
the  same  technical  sense  i\\a.i  pekhah  (governor)  has  in  Babylonian  ; 
but  no  Persian  scholar  has  ever  said  or  thought  this.  That 
Nehemiah  is  not  the  person  here  meant  is  proved  by  the  fact 
that  he  himself  found  the  list  in  which  the  person  thus  designated 
is  mentioned  ;  and  besides,  the  power  exercised  by  the  tirshatha 
here  as  regards  the  priesthood  corresponds  to  the  authority  given 
to  Sheshbazzar  (see  i.  8). 


EZRx\  2.  64.     T  67 

that  they  should  not  eat  of  the  most  holy  things,  till  there 
stood  up  a  priest  with  Urim  and  with  Thummim.     The  64 

that  they  should  not  eat,  &c.  :  that  they  should  not  act  as 
priests ;  to  these  last  alone  \vas  it  permitted  to  partake  of  the 
shew-bread  and  of  certain  parts  of  what  was  offered  :  see  Lev. 
ii.  10,  vi.  18,  26,  vii.  6,  31-34. 

the  most  holy  thing's :  what  priests  alone  were  allowed  to 
eat.     See  Num.  xviii.  9-1 1, 

till  there  stood  up,  &c. :  these  priestly  claimants  of 
doubtful  genealogy  were  to  refrain  from  acting  as  priests  until 
another  high-priest  should  arise  with  power  to  obtain  oracles 
from  God  by  Urim  and  Thummim  :  he  would  be  able  to  decide 
as  to  the  validity  or  otherwise  of  the  claims  put  forth  by  these  men. 

Urim  and  Thiimmim:  an  ancient  Hebrew  method  of 
seeking  by  lot  the  will  of  God,  emploj^ed  by  the  high-priest 
alone.  The  following  rendering  of  i  Sam.  xiv.  41  f.,  based  on 
a  text  amended  in  accordance  with  Luc,  makes  it  exceedingly 
likely  that  Urhn  and  Thunmnni  stand  for  two  stones  on  which 
alternative  answers  were  written  (yes,  no,  &:c,),  and  which, 
being  placed  in  a  pocket  attached  to  the  high-priest's  ephod, 
one  of  them  was  drawn,  the  word  on  it  constituting  the  answer 
sought :  '■  And  Saul  said,  O  Yahweh  the  God  of  Israel,  why  hast 
thou  not  answered  thy  servant,  this  day  ?  If  the  iniquity  be  in 
me  or  in  Jonathan  my  son  give  Urim  ;  and  if  thou  sayest  thus  : 
the  iniquity  is  in  the  people,  give  Thummim  '  (Driver,  in  loco). 
We  have  ten  other  obvious  examples  in  the  O.  T.  in  which  God 
was  consulted  by  lot  :  see  Jonah  i.  7  ff.,  &c.  Many  other  explana- 
tions of  Urim  and  Thummim  have  been  given.  Josephus  {Aittiq. 
iii.  8.  9)  and  the  Rabbis  generally  identified  Urim  and  Thummim 
with  the  twelve  precious  stones,  which,  according  to  P  (Exod. 
xxviii.  17  ff.),  were  inserted  in  the  high-priest's  breastplate  and 
which  in  some  mysterious  way  indicated  the  Divine  Will  :  so 
Kalisch  (see  on  Exod.  xxviii.  30).  But  Uiim  and  Thummim  had 
to  be  put  into  the  pocket  of  the  breastplate,  and  the  names 
suggest  two  not  twelve  stones.  Spencer,  Hengstenberg,  and 
others,  derive  the  custom  of  divining  by  two  stones  from  Egyptian 
models.  Some  {}.  H.  Michaelis,  Gesenius,  &c.)  have  held  that  three 
stones  were  used,  one  for  an  affirmative,  another  for  a  negative, 
and  a  third  for  a  neutral  answer  ;  but  the  evidence  is  against  this. 
The  Rabbis  say  that  in  the  second  Temple  five  things  were 
lacking  which  were  present  in  Solomon's  Temple,  viz.  tl.e  Ark, 
the  Holy  Fire,  the  Oil  of  Anointing,  the  Shechinah,  the  Spirit 
of  Prophecy,  and  the  Urim  and  Thummim.  It  is,  however, 
implied  in  Josephus,  Auiiq.  iii.  8.  9,  and  Sir.  xxxvi.  3  (EV.  xxxiii. 
3)  that  the  high-priest  had  the  power  of  Urim  and  Thummim 
down  to  Maccabean  days.     If  Joshua  were  now  high-priest  why 

F    2 


68  EZRA  2.  65.     T 

whole  congregation  together  was  forty  and  two  thousand 
65  three  hundred  and  threescore,  beside  their  menservants 
and  their  maidservants,  of  whom  there  were  seven  thou- 
sand three  hundred  thirty  and  seven  :  and  they  had  two 

had  he  not  this  power?  Probably  he  had  not  yet  entered  fully 
into  oflfice  ;  and,  in  any  case,  it  was  believed  immediately  after  the 
return  that  no  one  could  receive  Divine  intimations  in  this  manner. 

*Urim'  (LXX  'revelation,'  Vulg.  'teaching')  means  'lights' 
(so  Sym.,  Theod.)  or  'great  light,'  plur.  of  intensity:  'Thum- 
mim  '  (LXX  'truth')  means  'perfections'  or  'great  perfection,' 
plur.  of  intensit3\  The  sense  of  the  words  has,  however,  been 
variously  explained. 

64-67.  Sum  total  of  the  people  and  of  the  animals.  On  the 
apparent  contradiction  between  the  details  and  the  sum  total  of  those 
who  returned,  see  p.  52.  Several  futile  attempts  at  reconciliation 
have  been  made,  such  as  that  the  total  includes  members  of  the 
ten  tribes  who  returned  with  the  others.  But  either  we  have 
here  three  distinct  traditions  with  editorial  harmonizing  in  the 
sum  total,  or  divergences  in  the  items — a  more  likely  ex- 
planation, The  existence  of  three  different  traditions  would  be 
a  confirmation  of  the  general  facts,  though  it  would  be  an  argu- 
ment against  the  idea  that  contemporary  written  archives  were 
preserved. 

64.  According  to  i  Esd.  v.  41  the  total  given  includes  those 
above  twelve  3'ears  old  only,  from  which  J.  D.  Michaelis,  follow- 
ing Jewish  commentators,  infers  that  the  separate  statements 
refer  to  those  above  twenty  years  of  age ;  he  thus  accounts  for 
the  divergences  in  the  detailed  numbers  and  the  sum  total. 
But  even  then  he  fails  to  account  for  the  divergences  in  the 
details,  though  the}^  are  slight.  Others  have  thought  that  the 
sum  total  includes  the  women,  but  that  the  items  do  not.  So 
Stade  and  Meyer. 

cong'reg'ation  :  the  Hebrew  word  {qahal)  has  a  religious 
connotation,  and  is  especially  used  of  the  restored  community. 
The  Jews  left  Palestine  a  nation  ;  they  returned  a  religious  com- 
munity. In  later  times  the  word  stood  for  the  pious  portion  of 
the  people,  see  Ps.  cxlix.  i.  Stade,  with  a  view  to  confirming  his 
contention  that  Yahwism  was  essentially  a  men's  religion,  says 
that  the  qahal  Yahweh  or  '  Yahweh's  congregation '  was  made 
up  of  men  alone,  but  that  he  is  wrong  is  proved  by  Neh.  viii.  2 ; 
Joshua  viii.  35  ;  cp.  Deut.  xxxi.  12  ;  Ezra  x.  i  ;  Joel  ii.  16. 

65.  they  (had),  i.  e.  the  whole  congregation  of  ver.  64. 

two  hundred:  in  Neh.  vii.  67  and  i  Esd.  v.  42  two 
liundred  and  forty-five,  a  copyist's  error  due  to  the  presence  of 
the  latter  number  in  the  following  verse. 


EZRA  2.  66-68.     T  69 

hundred    singing    men    and    singing    women.      Their  66 
horses    were    seven    hundred    thirty    and     six ;    their 
mules,  two  hundred  forty  and  five ;  their  camels,  four  67 
hundred  thirty  and  five ;  i/ieir  asses,  six  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  twenty.     And  some  of  the  heads  of  fathers'  68 

singrinef  men  and  singingf  women :  to  be  distinguished  from 
the  Levitical  guild  of  sacred  singers  mentioned  in  verses  41,  70. 
The  singers  of  fhis  verse  are  professionals,  such  as  were  employed 
for  marriages,  feasts,  banquets,  and  the  like;  see  2  Sam.  xix.  36; 
2  Chron.  xxxv.  25;  Sir.  ii.  ']{.;  here  they  were  engaged  to 
relieve  the  tedium  of  the  journey.  The  mention  of  them  is  a 
confirmation  of  the  truth  of  the  story  of  the  return.  The  text  has 
been  unnecessarily  changed  so  as  to  read  '  oxen,'  omitting  '  and 
singing  women  '  as  an  addition  due  to  the  corruption^  of  the  pre- 
ceding word.  There  is  no  external  authority  for  this,  and  we 
have  abundant  attestation  of  the  existence  of  the  singers  of 
verses  41,  70,  and  of  these  of  the  present  verse.  Lohr^  holds 
that  this  verse  proves  that  immediately  after  the  exile,  and  pro- 
bably before  it,  women  formed  an  essential  part  of  the  Temple  choir. 

66.  Number  of  the  beasts:  horses  736  (i  Esd.  v.  43,  7,036); 
mules  245  ;  camels  435  ;  asses  6,720  ;  so  Neh.  vii.  68. 

The  animals  mentioned  are  only  such  as  would  be  required  for 
the  journey  for  carrying  persons  and  baggage,  an  undesigned 
confirmation  of  the  narrative. 

horses:  the  earliest  mention  of  the  use  of  the  horse  among 
the  Israelites  for  purposes  other  than  war. 

mtiles:  used  in  Palestine  at  present  almost  exclusively  for 
carrying  baggage,  but  in  Bible  times  they  were  used  by  the 
better-to-do  for  riding  purposes  before  the  horse  was  so  used  : 
see  I  Kings  i.  33,  38,  44  ;  Isa.  Ixvi.  30.  They  were  unknown  in 
Palestine  until  Solomon  imported  them. 

67.  camels  would  be  most  valuable  for  the  journey  from  Baby- 
lon on  account  of  their  ability  to  carry  great  burdens  and  to 
endure  beyond  most  animals. 

asses  would  be  used  by  the  poorer  classes  ;  much  less  used 
in  Palestine  than  the  horse  at  the  present  time,  though  in  Egypt 
the  contrary  is  the  case.  The  Egyptian  deserts  suit  the  ass  as  the 
rocky  mountains  do  the  horse. 

68  f.  Coittn'biifions  of  heads  of  houses  towards  the  nbuildiHg  of 
the  Temple.  The  parallel  account  in  Neh.  vii.  70-72  is  fuller,  but  the 
sum  totals  of  what  was  given  do  not  agree  in  Ezra  and  Nehemiah. 

^  A.T.  Theol.u  147  ff. 

^  Das  Weib  in  yahive-Religion  und  yahwe-Kidt,  51. 


7©  EZRA  2.  69.     T 

houses^  when  they  came  to  the  house  of  the  Lord  which 

is  in  Jerusalem,  offered  willingly  for  the  house  of  God  to 

69  set  it  up  in  its  place :  they  gave  after  their  ability  into  the 

treasury  of  the  work  threescore  and  one  thousand  darics 

In  the  former  the  heads  of  houses  give  61,000  darics  of  gold,  5,000 
pounds  of  silver,  and  100  priests'  garments.  In  Nehemiah  the 
Tirshatha,  heads  of  houses,  and  the  remainder  of  the  people  give 
in  all  41,000  darics  of  gold,  4,700  pounds  of  silver,  and  97  priests' 
garments.  It  is  impossible  to  reconcile  these  numbers.  The  dis- 
crepancies are  due  to  different  traditions  or  to  copyists'  errors. 

68.  heads  of  fathers'  houses  :  see  on  i.  5. 

for  the  house  of  God  .  .  .  place :  Neh.  vii.  70  simply  '  (gave) 
unto  the  work,'  the  last  word  standing,  according  to  Wellhausen 
and  Bertholet,  for  the  cultus  (sacrificing,  &c.)  only.  This,  it  is 
held,  is  what  is  meant  in  the  present  verse,  and  the  text  is  accord- 
ingly changed  so  as  to  make  it  agree  with  Nehemiah.  But  that 
the  word  rendered  '  work  '  can  denote  temple  building  is  proved 
by  iii.  9,  Hag.  i.  14,  &c.  Perhaps,  however,  the  contributions 
here  were  specifically  towards  restoring  the  cultus  or  worship  of 
the  house.  See  on  vi.  4  to  set  it  up,  Heb.  '  to  make  stand,'  i.  e. 
*to  restore,'  as  in  ix.  9. 

69.  Here  the  heads  of  houses  give  ;  in  Nehemiah  the  Tirshatha 
and  the  rest  of  the  people  give  as  well,  though  even  then  the 
amount  reached  is  smaller  than  what  the  '  heads  '  alone  give. 

darics :  a  Persian  gold  coin  of  the  value  of  our  guinea, 
deriving  its  name,  according  to  Bohlenius,  Ryssel  (Bertheau), 
&c.,  from  the  Persian  dara  (king),  and  kwna  (bow),  so  meaning 
*  king's  bow,'  a  king  with  a  bow  being  pictured  on  the  coin  :  see 
Gesenius,  Thesaurus^  354*  ;  Madden,  Coins  of  the  Jews  (''),  p.  48. 
Modern  scholars,  however,  tend  more  and  more  to  reject  the 
Persian  etymology.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  Babylonian  word  ^  was 
used  long  before  the  Persians  came  in  contact  with  the  Babylonians. 
But  in  any  case  the  derivation  from  *  Darius '  is  now  universally 
rejected  by  scholars.  This  word  seems  to  be  quite  distinct  in 
etymology  from  the  word  rendered  '  daric  '  in  viii,  27  and  i  Chron. 
xxix.  7,  the  latter  being  a  Hebraized  form  of  the  word  in  the 
present  verse,  from  the  Heb.  root  darak,  'to  bend  the  bow* ;  then 
darkon  (the  Heb.  noun)  =  '  archer.'  But  it  is  the  same  coin  that  is 
probably  meant,  though  Meyer  thinks  we  must  understand  different 
coins,  finding  support  in  the  bilingual  inscription  (Phoenician  and 
Greek)  found  in  the  Pyraeus  :  see  Entsfehmig,  &c.,  196  f. 

If  the  two  words  rendered  'darics'  (darkenion  and  darkon)  are 

^  dariku,  used  according  to  Prof.  Sayce  in  the  Neo-Babylonian 
contracts  for  a  kind  of  measure.  The  cuneiform  lexical  tablets 
make  darikii  —  'a  pot.' 


EZRA  2.  70—3.  t.     T  71 

of  gold,  and  five  thousand  «- pound  of  silver,  and  one 
hundred   priests'  garments.      So   the    priests,    and    the  70 
Levites,  and  some  of  the  people,  and  the  singers,  and 
the  porters,  and  the  Nethinim,  dwelt  in  their  cities,  and 
all  Israel  in  their  cities. 

^  And  when  the  seventh  month  was  come,  and  the  3 
children  of  Israel  were  in  the  cities,  the  people  gathered 

*  Heb.  maneh.  ^  See  Neh.  vii.  73,  viii.  r. 

derived  from  Darius  there  arises  a  chronological  difficulty  :  how 
could  coins  used  in  the  time  of  Cyrus  (538-529)  be  called  after 
Darius  (D.  Hystaspis,  521-486)  ?  That  the  older  name  is  used  here 
and  the  later  Hebraized  name  by  Ezra  himself  (viii.  27)  is  evidence 
for  the  antiquity  and  authenticity  of  the  list  in  this  chapter. 

pound :  Heb.  maneh,  Greek  nu'iia,  Bab.  nianu,  Sumerian 
niana  :  a  certain  value  of  silver  measured  by  weight,  containing 
fifty  shekels,  equal  to  one-sixtieth  part  of  a  talent,  i.e.  about  £6  16s. 

priests'  erarments :  made  of  fine  white  linen  ;  see  description 
in  Exod.  xxviii.  40,  xxxix.  27,  and  cf.  2  Chron.  v.  12. 

70.  Closing  words.  Read  and  render,  'And  then  the  priests,  the 
Levites,  the  singers,  the  porters,  the  Nethinim,  and  some  of  the 
people  (not  being  Levites)— even  all  Israel  dwelt  in  their  cities.' 
See  Neh.  vii.  73.  i  Esd.  v.  46  says  that  the  priests,  Levites,  and 
lay  folk  dwelt  in  and  about  Jerusalem,  but  the  holy  singers, 
porters,  and  all  Israel  dwelt  in  their  villages. 

Ill  (i  Esd.  V.  47-65).      Religious  Life  of  the  Nation  Re- 
sumed :    Building  and  Dedication  of  the  Altar  (1-6}  ; 
Foundation  of  the  Temple  Laid  (7-10). 
1-3.  Building  of  the  altar  and  sacrificing  on  it. 
1.  See  on  Neh.  vii.  73  f. 
seventh  month :    i.  e.  of  the  first  year  of  Cyrus,  referring 
back  to  i.  i  ('  the  first  year  of  Cyrus  ')  :  see  ver.  8.     This  month, 
called  Tishri,  is  still  the  sacred  month  of  the  Jewish  calendar,  for 
in  it  occur  the  Feast  of  Trumpets,  the  Day  of  Atonement  (loth 
day),  and  Tabernacles  (15th  to  21st),  and  in  later  as  in  pre-exilic 
times  the  year  began  with  it :  see  on  x.  16.     Howorth,  following 
I   Esd.  V.  6,  holds  that  it  is  the  seventh  month   of  the  second 
year  of  Darius  II  (Nothus,  423-404)  that  is  meant  {PSBA.  1902, 
P'  336) ;  but  this  chronology  is  impossible  (see  p.  28\  and  it  rests 
on  a  legend  which  is  full  of  improbabilities  (i  Esd.  iii.  i-v.  6). 

in  the  cities:  see  ii.  70.  The  returned  exiles  were  now 
settled  in  their  respective  homes. 


lya  EZRA  3.  2,  3.     T 

2  themselves  together  as  one  man  to  Jerusalem.  Then 
stood  up  Jeshua  the  son  of  Jozadak,  and  his  brethren 
the  priests,  and  Zerubbabel  the  son  of  Shealtiel,  and  his 
brethren,  and  builded  the  altar  of  the  God  of  Israel,  to 
offer  burnt  offerings  thereon,  as  it  is  written  in  the  law  of 

3  Moses  the  man  of  God.  And  they  set  the  altar  ^  upon  its 
base ;  for  fear  was  upon  them  because  of  the  people  of 

*  Or,  in  Us  place 

to  Jerusalem :  i  Esd.  v.  47  more  definitely,  '  into  the 
broad  place  before  the  first  gate  which  is  towards  the  east':  see 
Neh.  viii.  i'\  The  assembly  took  place  in  the  open  space  between 
the  water-gate  (Neh.  iii.  26)  and  the  temple  area. 

2.  Jeshiia  :  see  on  il.  2. 

his  brethren :  Jeshua's  brethren  are  his  fellow  members  of 
the  priesthood  ;  Zerubbabel's  are  the  heads  of  houses  (ii.  2,  68). 

builded :  in  the  sense  of  '  rebuilded '  as  in  i  Kings  xvi.  34, 
Amos  ix.  14. 

the  altar  :  as  the  materials  of  the  old  altar  were  probably 
to  hand,  and  so  many  workers  were  engaged,  the  altar  would  be 
speedily  completed.  As  it  was  of  the  utmost  importance  that  the 
religious  life  of  the  nation  should  be  resumed,  the  altar  was  set  up 
before  the  Temple  was  rebuilt. 

burnt  offerings :  such  as  were  offered  daily  on  behalf  of  the 
nation.     Private  offerings,  being  of  less  importance,  had  to  wait. 

as  it  is  written,  &c.  :  see  Lev.  i ;  Neh.  x.  35-37  ;  2  Chron. 
xxiii.  t8,  XXXV.  12,  where  the  same  expression  occurs.  All  sacri- 
ficial regulations  are  ascribed  in  post-exilic  writings  to  Moses, 
musical  arrangements  to  David  :  see  ver.  10,  and  Proverbs  to 
Solomon  (Pro v.  i.  i). 

law  of  Moses :  not  the  Pentateuch.  The  Hebrew  word  here 
tomh)  is  never  once  used  in  the  O.T.  in  the  strictly  technical 
sense  '  Pentateuch'  vv^hich  prevails  in  Rabbinical  Hebrew.  It  means 
strictly  '  teaching,'  then  '  prescribed  laws  '  (see  p.  8,  n.).  The  '  law 
of  Moses'  in  Ezra,  Neh.,  &c,  =  the  regulations  about  worship  in 
the  current  code,  believed  to  owe  its  origin  to  Moses  :  see  on  vii.  6. 

3.  its  base  :  the  same  words  ;  with  a  very  slight  difference)  in 
ii.  68  are  rendered  'its  place'  :  see  Zech.  v.  11.  The  meaning  is 
that  the  altar  was  set  up  in  the  place  where  the  former  altar  stood. 
The  spirit  animating  the  people  would  lead  them  to  presc-ve  old 
sites  as  well  as  old  usages.  The  Massorites  {q^re)  change  un- 
necessarily into  the  plural  '  its  bases.' 

for  fear,  &c.  :  render  '  for  fear  of  the  peoples  of  the  land 
came   upon    them ;    and   so  (to   secure   Divine   protection)   they 


EZRA  3.  4.     T  73 

the  countries :  and  they  offered  burnt  offerings  thereon  unto 
the  Lord,  even  burnt  offerings  morning  and  evening. 
And  they  kept  the  feast  of  tabernacles,  as  it  is  written,  4 

offered,'  &c.  A  very  slight  change  in  the  M.  T.  (adopted  by 
Bertholet  and  Kittel)  is  required  for  the  above  translation. 
Without  some  change  the  Hebrew  gives  no  good  sense. 

people  of  the  countries  :  Hebrew  *  peoples  of  the  lands '  or 
'countries').  We  should,  however,  read  'the  peoples  of  the  land,' 
the  plural  of  the  second  noun  being  due  to  attraction  to  that  of  the 
first.  It  is  possible,  of  course,  that  there  is  in  the  Hebrew 
a  reference  to  the  various  nationalities  of  contiguous  countries 
(Edom,  &c.).  Ewald  was  of  opinion  that  during  the  exile  the 
Edomites  had  to  a  large  extent  taken  possession  of  South  Palestine, 
but  that  is  an  unproved  guess.  The  phrase  '  peoples  (people)  of  the 
land '  or  '  of  the  earth  '  or  '  of  the  lands '  seems  always  to  stand  for 
the  heathen  in  contrast  with  Israel,  '  the  people.'  Its  primary  refer- 
ence is  probably  to  the  native  races  of  Palestine  ;  but  as  they  were 
heathen  the  expression  came  to  stand  for  heathen  in  general,  an 
extension  of  meaning  made  easier  by  the  fact  that  the  same  Hebrew 
word  means  'land'  or  'country'  and  also  'earth.'  The  sing. 
'  people  '  (am)  refers  nearly  always  to  Israel.  See  article  '  Nation ' 
in  Hastings'  SDB.  for  use  of  '  nations '  in  sense  of  '  heathen.' 
Cf.  iv.  4  ('people  of  the  land,'  see  on),  ix.  r,  &c. ;  and  also  Deut. 
xxviii.  10  ;  Joshua  iv.  24  ;   i  Kings  viii.  53,  60. 

burnt  offerings,  &c.  :  the  regulations  for  the  daily  sacrifices 
are  given  in  Exod.  xxix.  38-42  (P)  ;  Num.  xxviii.  3-8  (P). 

4-7.  Before  the  Temple  was  built  and  regular  worship  resumed 
the  Israelites  celebrated  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  and  other  feasts, 
offering  the  appropriate  sacrifices  on  the  newly  restored  altar. 

4.  they  kept  the  feast  of  tahernacles:  this  is  apparently  at 
variance  with  the  statement  in  Neh.  viii.  17  that  between  the 
time  of  the  observance  recorded  in  Neh.  viii.  14  ff.  and  that  of 
Joshua  son  of  Nun  this  feast  had  not  been  kept ;  see  on  the 
above  passage.  Even  if  we  assume  that  this  feast  was  observed 
on  both  these  occasions  it  is  strange  that  nowhere  else  in  Ezra- 
Nehemiah  and  nowhere  at  all  in  the  other  historical  books  of  the 
O.  T.  do  we  read  of  the  actual  carrying  out  of  the  laws  command- 
ing the  feast  (see  on,  Neh.  viii.  14).  The  authenticity  of  the 
present  passage  is  denied  by  making  it  an  invention  of  the 
Chronicler,  who  had  a  wish  to  represent  the  returned  Jews  as 
faithful  to  '  the  law  of  Moses.'     See  p.  14  f. 

Originally  the  three  great  feasts  were  agricultural,  and  had 
nothing  to  do  with  the  events  with  which  in  later  times  they  came 
to  be  connected  ;  they  were  simply  agrarian  feasts  during  which 
the  people  rejoiced  at  the  close  of  the  three  harvests  (barley, 


74  EZRA  3.  5.     T 

and  offered  the  daily  burnt  offerings  by  number,  according 

5  to  the  ordinance,  as  the  duty  of  every  day  required  ;  and 

afterward  the  continual  burnt  offering,  and  the  offerings  of 


wheat,  and  fruit  of  various  kind).  The  Feast  of  Tabernacles  was 
an  autumnal  holiday  when  the  people  gathered  from  villages  and 
towns  to  great  centres,  and  living  in  booths  enjoyed  themselves 
when  the  year's  hardest  work  was  over.  This  feast  came  to  be 
religious,  commemorative  of  the  dwelling  in  tents  in  the  wilderness, 
only  with  the  inauguration  of  the  Deuteronomical  legislation  which, 
as  a  part  of  its  centralization  of  worship,  made  it  obligatory  to 
keep  the  feasts  at  Jerusalem. 

as  It  is  written :  see  on  ver.  2.  The  reference  seems  to 
be  to  the  law  recorded  in  Num.  xxix.  12-34  (P),  according  to 
which  the  number  of  bullocks  to  be  sacrificed  on  the  succeeding 
days  diminished,  beginning  with  thirteen  on  the  15th  of  Tishri 
and  ending  with  seven  on  the  21st  and  closing  day  of  the  feast. 
But  the  various  codes  do  not  agree.  See  G.  B.  Gray,  Numbers, 
p.  402  ff,  ('  a  scale  of  public  offerings ').  No  details  of  the  manner 
in  which  the  feast  was  kept  are  given  in  the  present  chapter. 

offered:  the  verb  translated  'kept'  is  the  technical  one  for 
*to  offer'  (a  sacrifice)  ;  its  force  is  continued  in  the  present  clause 
and  also  into  the  next  verse,  so  that  the  italics  are  not  needed  and 
should  be  omitted. 

by  number,  &c.  :  see  the  above  note. 
5-7.    T/ie  offering  of  sacrifices  of  various  kinds  resumed, 
5.  afterward:  after  the  observance  of  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles 
the   sacrificial    S3''Stem    suspended    since    the   destruction    of  the 
Temple  in  586  B.C.  was  restored.     The  nation  so  long  religiously 
dead  was  beginning  to  re-live  its  old  religious  life. 

the  continiial  burnt  offeringf :  the  daily  sacrifices,  see 
Exod.  xxix.  38-42  ;  Num.  xxviii.  8  ;  Ezek.  xlvi.  15.  In  pre-exilic 
times  the  daily  sacrifice  consisted  of  a  whole  burnt  offering  in  the 
morning  and  a  meal  offering  in  the  evening  (see  2  Kings  xvi.  15  ; 
cf.  r  Kings  xviii.  29,  36).  Ezekiel  requires  both  these  in  the 
morning  ;  Neh.  x.  33  (34)  assumes  that  both  were  offered  each 
day,  though  whether  in  the  morning  as  Kzek.  xlvi.  15,  or  morning 
and  evening  according  to  the  old  law,  cannot  be  determined.  In 
later  times  (see  Num.  xxviii.  8  (P))  the  law  required  a  burnt 
offering  and  also  a  meal  offering  both  morning  and  evening, 
though  the  meal  offering  was  subordinated  to  the  other,  as  was 
the  drink  offering  which  (last)  was  never  offered  alone.  See  on 
ix.  5  and  on  Neh.  x.  34  (33). 

continual  means  in  this  connexion  'daily.' 

and  the  offering's  of:  since  the  construction  in  Hebrew 
implies  the  presence  of  these  words  the  italics  are  unnecossar}'. 


EZRA  3.  6, 1.     T  ^5 

the  new  moons,  and  of  all  the  set  feasts  of  the  Lord 
that  were  consecrated,  and  of  every  one  that  willingly 
offered  a  freewill  offering  unto  the  Lord.  From  the  first  6 
day  of  the  seventh  month  began  they  to  offer  burnt  offer- 
ings unto  the  Lord  :  but  the  foundation  of  the  temple  of 
the  Lord  was  not  yet  laid.     They  gave  money  also  unto  7 


new  moons :  the  observance  of  this  feast  (the  first  day  of  the 
month)  is  not  enacted  in  any  of  the  older  codes  (JE,  D,  H)  and 
in  P  only  in  Num.  x.  19  and  xxviii.  11-15.  It  does  not  even  find 
mention  in  the  list  of  feasts  in  Lev.  xxiii.  Nevertheless,  that  the 
new  moon  was  in  early  times  observed  as  a  festal  day  and  as  a  day 
of  sacrifice  is  proved  by  Amos  viii.  5  ;  Hos.  ii.  11  (13^1  ;  Isa.  i.  13  ; 
I  Sam.  XX.  4  ff. ;  2  Kings  iv.  23. 

In  I  Esd.  V.  52  the  Sabbath  offerings  are  mentioned  before 
those  of  the  new  moons:  so  i  Chron.  xxiii.  31  ;  2  Chron.  ii.  4. 

set  feasts  :  probably  here  as  in  Nch.  x.  33,  2  Chron.  viii.  13 
the  three  great  annual  pilgrimage  feasts  are  meant,  though  the 
expression  has  a  wider  sense  in  Lev.  xxiii.  2  '^see  following  verses 
where  they  are  enumerated). 

freewill  ofiering' :  the  aforementioned  offerings  were  made 
by  the  community  and  were  compulsor3'.  But  each  individual 
was  at  liberty  to  make  private  offerings  on  the  great  feast  daj'S 
(see  Deut.  xvi.  ro,  16  f.)  or  on  any  other  occasions  (see  Num. 
xxix.  39).  See  Lev.  i-iii,  where  they  are  called  'gifts'  (*  corbans,' 
see  Mark  vii.  11).  a  word  however  which  in  other  places  includes 
all  kinds  of  sacrifices,  bloody  and  bloodless. 

6.  Sacrifice  began  to  be  offered  immediately  the  altar  was  set  up, 
i.  e.  on  the  first  day  of  Tishri,  the  Day  of  Trumpets  (Num.  xxix.  i). 
Yet  the  regular  daily  offering  was  not  resumed  until  the  Feast  of 
Tabernacles  had  been  held,  i.e.  after  the  22nd  day  of  the  month, 
three  weeks  later :  see  ver.  5. 

•7.  Preparations  for  the  rebuilding  of  the  Teniph:  See  the  much 
fuller  account  of  the  preparations  for  building  Solomon's  temple 
in  I  Kings  v.  7  ff.  (Heb.  2r  ff.)  and  2  Chron.  ii.  11  ff.  ^  Some  say 
that  the  present  verse  is  an  invention  of  the  Chronicler's,  based  on 
the  older  accounts  of  the  building  of  the  first  Temple.  But  there  arc 
differences  as  well  as  resemblances  ;  and  it  should  be  remembered 
that  the  example  of  Solomon  was  likely  to  influence  the  conduct 
of  Zerubbabel  and  Jeshua. 

money :  the  native  workmen  received  money  ;  the  Sidonians 
and  Tyrians  were  paid  in  kind  (wheat,  wine,  and  oil)  ;  see 
I  Kings  v.  33. 


7^  EZRA  3.  8.     T 

the  «  masons,  and  to  the  carpenters  ;  and  meat,  and  drink, 
and  oil,  unto  them  of  Zidon,  and  to  them  of  Tyre,  to  bring 
cedar  trees  from  Lebanon  to  the  sea,  unto  Joppa,  according 
to  the  grant  that  they  had  of  Cyrus  king  of  Persia. 

Now  in  the  second  year  of  their  coming  unto  the 
house  of  God  at  Jerusalem,  in  the  second  month,  began 
Zerubbabel  the  son  of  Shealtiel,  and  Jeshua  the  son  of 

*  Or,  hewers 

masons:  rather  'stone-cutters,'  i.  e.  those  who  cut  the  stones 
into  proper  shape  for  building:  not  builders  or  'masons.'  Nor 
does  the  word  stand  for  those  who  quarried  the  stone  (from 
below  the  city). 

carpenters :  i.  e.  those  who  cut  the  wood  into  the  shape 
required  for  the  building  ;  so  the  Hebrew. 

grant:  the  Hebrew  word  seems  to  mean  'permission,'  the 
reference  being  to  the  permission  given  by  Cyrus  to  rebuild  the 
Temple  and  his  promise  of  help. 

8-13.  Foundation  of  the  Temple  laid.  Though  the  work  of 
rebuilding  was  commenced  in  real  earnest,  it  seems  to  have  been 
speedily  stopped,  not  being  resumed  until  the  second  year  of 
Darius  Hystaspis,  i.  e.  in  519  b.  c.  :  see  v.  2.  Even  the  foundation- 
stone  was  so  incompletely  laid  that  the  whole  proceeding  had  to 
be  gone  through  sixteen  years  later  when  the  preaching  of  Haggai 
and  Zechariah  moved  the  people  to  set  about  the  task  of  rebuilding : 
see  Hag.  i.  15.  There  is  no  need  to  assume  that  there  is  a  con- 
tradiction. The  first  foundation-stone  laying  was  formal  and 
incomplete  ;  at  the  end  of  sixteen  years  those  hostile  to  the  under- 
taking might  have  undone  what  had  been  done.  Besides,  the 
Hebrew  verb  (ver.  10)  translated  '  to  lay  the  foundation '  must  not 
be  understood  to  mean  to  start  a  new  building  de  novo.  To  begin 
rebuilding  an  old  structure  would  meet  the  requirements  of  the  case. 
8.  the  second  year :  i.  e.  after  the  return ;  this  would  be 
probably  the  third  year  of  Cyrus's  reign  over  Babylon. 

the  house  of  God,  &c.  (see  ii.  68):  i.e.  the  place  where  the 
l^mple  had  been,  was  to  be,  and  where  much  of  the  old  building 
must  have  remained. 

second  month :  i.  e.  lyyar. 

begran:  i.e.  the  work  of  rebuilding  the  Temple;  what  they 
began  to  do  is  suggested  by  the  context.  Some  (Keil,  &c.)  join 
the  verb  to  and  appointed,  rendering  '  began  to  appoint ' ;  the 
Hebrew  allows  this. 

Zernbbahel,  &c.  :  see  on  ii.  2  and  also  on  v.  2.  The  com- 
munity which  appointed  the   Levites  as  overseers  of  the  work 


EZRA  3.  9.     T  77 

Jozadak,  and  the  rest  of  their  brethren  the  priests  and 
the  Levites,  and  all  they  that  were  come  out  of  the  cap- 
tivity unto  Jerusalem  ;  and  appointed  the  Levites,  from 
twenty  years  old  and  upward,  to  ^  have  the  oversight  of 
the  work  of  the  house  of  the  Lord.     Then  stood  Jeshua  9 

*  Or,  set  forward  the  work 

consisted  of  the  civic  (Zerubbabel)  and  religious  (Jeshua)  leaders, 
priests,  and  Levites,  and  the  rest,  i.  e.  the  lay  portion. 

Jeshua :  see  on  ii.  2. 

the  rest:  i.  e.  all  except  Zerubbabel  and  Jeshua. 

and  appointed:  render  'so  they  appointed.'  The  verb 
(lit.  to  'cause  to  stand')  is  used  elsewhere  also  of  appointing  to 
office,  as  in  2  Chron.  viii.  14,  xxxi.  2,  &c.  :  see  on  verses  9,  10. 

the  tevites  :  very  few  of  them  returned  according  to  ii.  40. 
They  would  therefore  not  be  too  numerous  to  act  as  super- 
intendents of  the  various  departments  of  the  work. 

from  twenty  years  old  and  upward:  service  agreeing  with 
I  Chron.  xxiii.  27,  which  refers  this  arrangement  to  the  time  of 
David,  though  it  is  probably  what  obtained  in  the  writer's  own 
day.  Num.  iv.  3  (P)  gives  the  3'ears  of  service  as  from  thirty  to 
fifty,  though  after  that  a  Levite  could  help  his  brethren.  Num. 
viii.  23-26  (P;  fixes  the  age  at  from  twenty-five  to  fift}'.  The 
different  figures  represent  the  customs  of  different  times.  There 
is  no  contradiction  between  the  present  verse  and  Num.  iv.  3. 

to  have  the  oversig-ht  of:  not  in  the  LXX  (except  Ltic.') 
which  has  simply  '  appointed  .  . .  over  the  work,*  &c.  The  verb 
translated  as  above  is  cognate  with  the  word  often  found  in  the 
titles  of  Psalms  (R.  V.  Chief  Musician).  These  Levites  must  be 
understood  as  having  the  oversight  only  as  regards  the  religious 
use  of  the  structure — sacrifice,  the  laws  of  holiness,  &c.  They  can 
hardly  have  had  the  ability  or  responsibility  of  seeing  to  the 
building,  carpentering,  &c.,  as  such. 

0.  What  the  writer  in  this  verse  aims  at  saying  is  that  the 
Levites  accepted  the  task  imposed  on  them  ;  but  as  it  stands  the 
verse  does  not  say  that,  or  indeed  anything  that  is  intelligible  in 
the  light  of  the  text.  Probably  the  Hebrew  should  be  altered 
;:lightly  and  then  translated  as  follows : 

'  Then  Jeshua  and  his  descendants  and  brethren,  Kadmiel  and 
his  descendants  (who  were)  descendants  of  Hodaviah,  their 
descendants  and  their  brethren,  (j'ea,  all  the)  Levites,  accepted 
tlie  appointment,  superintending  the  workmen  (lit.  'the  doers  of 
the  work')  at  the  house  of  God.' 

stood  :  the  intransitive  form  of  the  verb  translated  appointed 
in  ver.  8  :  it  means  that  the  Levites  performed  the  duties  to  which 
they  were  appointed. 


78  EZRA  3.  10.     T 

with  his  sons  and  his  brethren,  Kadmiel  and  his  sons,  the 
sons  of  ^Judah,  •>  together,  to  have  the  oversight  of  the 
workmen  in  the  house  of  God  :  the  sons  of  Henadad, 
10  with  their  sons  and  their  brethren  the  Levites.  And 
when  the  builders  laid  the  foundation  of  the  temple  of 
the  Lord,  c  they  set  the  priests  in  their  apparel  with  trum- 
pets, and  the  Levites  the  sons  of  Asaph  with  cymbals,  to 

*  In  ch.  ii.  40,  Hodaviah.  ^  Heb.  as  one. 

*^  According  to  some  MSS.  and  ancient  versions,  the  priests  stood. 

Jeshua  .  .  .  Ms  brethren:  i.e.  Levitical  families  connected 
by  blood  relationship  with  that  of  Jeshua  (Joshua)  and  called  by 
that  name,  though  not  claiming  descent  from  one  ancestor,  Jeshua. 

Judah:  read  (with  most  moderns)  '  Hodaviah' :  see  ii.  40.  The 
Hebrew  words  could  be  easily  confounded,  especially  as  the  first 
consonant  of  Judah  is  identical  with  the  last  of  the  preceding  word. 
But  Neh.  xii.  8  shows  that  there  was  a  Levitical  clan  Judah. 

Kenadad  :  this  name  is  here  probably  due  to  a  marginal 
gloss.  First  an  editor  would  substitute  in  the  margin  '  Hodaviah ' 
for  'Judah,'  This  found  its  way  into  the  text  alongside  of  Judah. 
A  later  editor,  thinking  of  Neh.  x.  9,  substituted  Henadad. 
We  have  really  in  this  verse  but  two  Levitical  clans,  those 
enumerated  in  ii.  40. 

their  sons  and  their  brethren :  i.  e.  the  descendants  and 
brethren  of  Kadmiel  and  Hodaviah  the  Levites.  Render,  *  (even  all) 
the  Levites'  :  this  sums  up  the  preceding. 

10.  Note  that  in  this  verse  Levites  seem  to  act  as  musicians  ; 
in  the  oldest  sources  of  Ezra-Nehemiah  the  latter  are  a  clan  apart. 
See  pp.  16,  61  f.,  and  on  Neh.  xi.  17. 

builders:  i.e.  the  workmen. 

they  set :  if  we  retain  the  M.  T.  we  must  take  the  construc- 
tion to  be  what  is  called  that  of  the  indefinite  subject,  which  is 
generally  best  Englished  by  the  passive  'were  set,'  &c.  But 
it  is  far  better  to  follow  the  LXX  (including  Luc),  Vulg.  Syr., 
I  Esd.  y.  59,  and  at  least  thirteen  Hebrew  MSS.,  and  to  read  the 
intransitive  form  of  the  verb,  changing  vowels  only  which  were 
originally  not  written:  so  'they  stood'  in  the  sense  'stepped 
forward'  as  in  Ps.  cvi.  23,  Neh.  xii.  40,  and  Ezek.  xxii.  30. 
The  priests  came  forward  to  perform  their  duties  clothed  in  their 
robes  of  office,  and  with  trumpets. 

trumpets:  blown  by  priests  alone:  see  Num.  x.  8  f.  and 
I  Chron.  xiii.  8;  cf.  Neh.  xii.  35,  41. 

cymbals:  played  on  by  Levites :  see  Neh.  xii.  27 ;  2 Chron. 
V.  12  ff. 


EZRA  3.  II,  12.     T  79 

praise  the  Lord,  after  the  order  of  David  king  of  Israel. 

And  they  sang  one  to  another  in  praising   and  giving 

thanks  unto  the  Lord,  saying,  For  he  is  good,  for  his 

mercy  endureth  for   ever   toward   Lsrael.     And   all    the 

people  shouted  with  a  great  shout,  when  they  praised  the 

Lord,  because  the  foundation  of  the  house  of  the  Lord 

was  laid.     But  many  of  the  priests  and  Levites  and  heads 

of  fathers'  houses,  the  old  men  that  had  seen  a  the  first 

house,  when  the  foundation  of  this  house  was  laid  before 

*  Or,  the  first  house  standing  on  its  foundation,  when  this  house 
was  before  their  eyes 

David:  see  on  ver.  2.  In  post-exilic  times  David  was 
credited  with  having  originated  the  musical  arrangements  of  the 
Temple  :  see  r  Chron.  xxv.  i  ff.  and  i  Esd.  i.  5,  and  cf.  p.  11. 

11.  And  they  sang-  one  to  another:  Jewish  music  lacked 
harmony  and  counterpoint,  but  in  some  degree  it  made  up  by 
a  large  measure  of  antiphonal  singing,  one  portion  of  the  choir 
singing  one  part  of  a  verse,  the  other  singing  the  remainder  :  see 
Ps.  cxxxvi  in  which  each  verse  has  two  sections.  See  Psalms, 
vol.  ii.  in  this  series,  p.  26,  and  the  references  there  given.  The 
Hebrew  word  here  rendered  '  sang '  means  '  answered,'  and  it  is 
so  translated  in  x.  12  ;  Neh.  viii.  6. 

praising :  the  Hebrew  word  is  that  in  hallelu-yah,  '  praise  ye 
Yah '  (  =  Yahweh) :  for  its  etymology  see  W.  R.  Smith  (7?^/.  SemS'^\ 

431  f.). 

gfivingf  thanks  :  the  Hebrew  word  denotes  primarily  stretch- 
ing forth  the  hands,  as  an  attitude  of  worship.  See  on  x.  i  for 
other  senses  of  the  verb. 

for  his  mercy,  &c.,  quoting  the  words  of  the  refrain  :  see 
I  Chron.  xvi.  4;  2  Chron.  v.  13,  vii.  3,  xx.  21  ;  Jer.  xxxiii.  11 ; 
Ps.  cxxxvi.  Many  think  the  latter  was  sung  on  the  present 
occasion,  but  there  is  no  proof  of  that. 

mercy:  render  '  lovingkindness.' 

12.  the  old  men:  the  word  rendered  'elders'  in  v.  5  and  else- 
where, but  here  having  its  literal  not  its  official  signification. 

From  586,  when  the  Temple  was  destroyed,  to  the  present  year 
536,  there  is  but  a  space  of  half  a  century,  so  that  many  who 
witnessed  the  present  events  must  have  had  vivid  remembrances 
of  the  appearance  of  the  old  Temple. 

when  the  foundation  of  this  house,  &c.  :  this  clause  must 
be  joined  to  wliat  follows  and  not  (as  the  Hebrew  accents 
require)  with  what  precedes,  though  the  Hebrew  is  peculiar 
and  even  inaccurate. 


8o  EZRA  3.  13.     T 

their  eyes,  wept  with  a  loud  voice ;  and  many  shouted 
13  aloud  for  joy :  so  that  the  people  could  not  discern  the 
noise  of  the  shout  of  joy  from  the  noise  of  the  weep- 
ing of  the  people  :  for  the  people  shouted  with  a  loud 
shout,  and  the  noise  was  heard  afar  off. 

wept,  as  they  saw  the  contrast  between  what  of  the  new 
Temple  was  before  their  eyes  and  the  complete  Solomonian 
Temple  as  memory  recalled  it. 

shouted  aloud  for  joy:  not  only  did  the  young  and 
middle-aged  rejoice  that  they  were  to  have  a  Temple  like  that 
of  which  their  fathers  had  spoken  and  sung,  but  many  of  the  old 
men,  even  those  who  wept,  must  have  shared  the  gladness  of 
the  occasion. 

IV.  (i  Esd,  v.  66-73). 
1-5.     Jewish    Refusal    of    the    Samaritan    Offer    of    Co- 
operation IN  THE  Building  of  the  Temple. 

It  has  become  quite  the  fashion  to  treat  this  section  as  the 
fabrication  of  the  Chronicler,  who  wished  to  make  his  fellow 
countrymen  appear  as  religious  as  he  could  from  the  time  of  their 
reaching  Jerusalem,  and  also  to  account  for  the  hostility  between 
Jews  and  Samaritans.  Even  E.  Meyer,  a  defender  of  the  general 
authenticity  of  Ezra-Nehemiah,  falls  in  with  the  prevailing  fashion 
when  writing  on  these  verses  (see  Entstehting,  119 ff.).  Yet  the 
grounds  on  which  the  authenticity  of  this  section  has  been 
denied  are  almost  wholly  a  priori  and  subjective,  and  admit  of 
being  satisfactorily  met. 

It  has  been  asked,  How  could  Cyrus,  who  authorized  the  return 
and  also  the  rebuilding  of  the  Temple  (see  ver.  3),  now  consent  to 
have  the  work  hindered  ?  In  reply  it  may  be  said  that  Cyrus 
might  have  been  wholly  ignorant  of  what  action  his  subordinates 
had  taken,  for  we  know  that  about  this  time  he  had  much  on  his 
hands,  in  the  way  of  protecting  lands  he  had  conquered  and  in  the 
administration  of  his  vast  dominions.  Moreover,  there  might 
well  have  been  reasons  for  a  policy  different  from  that  pursued 
when  the  Temple-builders  were  yet  in  Babylon. 

In  Hag.  i.  6-1 1  the  delay  in  the  work  of  Temple  rebuilding  is 
ascribed  to  the  indifference  or  unbelief  of  the  people,  but  here  to 
the  opposition  of  the  Samaritans  :  both  causes,  it  is  said,  could 
not  be  at  work  ;  but  why  ?  It  is  not  said  in  ver.  4  f.  that  through 
the  action  of  the  Samaritans  the  work,  was  stopped,  but  only  that 
its  progress  was  checked.  We  are  told  in  iv.  24  that  the  work 
ceased,  but  we  are  not  informed  as  to  all  the  causes  of  that. 
When  the  exiles  returned  they  had  much  to  do  in  the  way  of 


EZRA  4  .  8i 

building  and  rebuilding  houses,  dividing  and  cultivating  the  land, 
organizing  the  community  and  the  like.  The  building  of  the 
Temple  was  not  the  only  task  that  devolved  upon  them. 

On  Schrader's  rejection  and  subsequent  acceptance  of  the  state- 
ment regarding  Esar-haddon  in  ver.  2  see  on  that  verse.  Weycr 
{Ell fsfc/i ling,  124  ff.  ;  cf.  Geschichte,  iii.  192),  though  a  defender  of 
pans  of  Ezra-Neh.  which  are  now  regarded  by  many  scholars  as  un- 
historicali^the  Aramaic  documents,  &c.),  is  very  decidedly  of  opinion 
that  these  five  verses  are  an  invention  of  the  Chronicler  and  unhis- 
torical.  He  thmks  it  extremely  unlikely  that  the  Samaritans,  at 
this  time  the  more  numerous  and  important  party,  should  seek 
religious  alliance  with  the  Jews,  and  still  m.ore  unlikely  that  the 
Jews  should  have  refused  so  flattering  an  offer.  On  the  contrary, 
a  careful  consideration  of  all  the  facts  will  make  very  likely  what 
Meyer  declares  to  be  unlikely'.  Why  should  not  the  Samaritans 
ask  to  be  allowed  to  join  the  Jews  in  the  great  task  of  restoring 
the  Temple  ?  These  Samaritans  were  all  of  them  Yahweh  wor- 
shippers, though  their  Yahweh  worship  was  disfigured  by  some 
heathen  accompaniments  (e.  g.  representing  Yahweh  in  the  shape 
of  their  ancestral  deities  :  2  Kings  xvii.  29)  ;  Josiah  (d.  609)  had 
suppressed  the  high  places  in  Samaria  as  well  as  those  in  Judaea 
(2  Kings  xxiii.  15  ff.),  and  compelled  the  Samaritans  to  contribute 
towards  the  upkeep  of  the  Jerusalem  Temple  (2  Kings  xxiii.  9). 
It  may  be  gathered  from  2  Chron.  xxxiv.  9  and  Jer.  xli.  3ff.  that 
at  least  some  Samaritans  worshipped  at  the  Jerusalem  Temple,  and 
these  were  genuine  Samaritans,  not  renegade  Jews.  In  matters 
of  religion  the  Samaritans  had  come  to  regard  the  Jews  as  their 
superiors,  and  it  is  to  this  that  we  are  to  ascribe  the  fact  that  at 
a  later  time  the  Samaritans  took  over  the  Jewish  law-book  ;^the 
Pentateuch),  making  it  their  own  religious  code. 

On  the  other  hand,  Meyer  infers  from  Isa.  Ivi.  1-8  that  the 
Jews  of  this  time  were  broad-minded,  ready  to  welcome  into  their 
community  eunuchs  and  foreigners.  But  most  moderns  (Duhm, 
Cheyne,  &c.)  think  that  this  declaration  belongs  to  the  age  of  Ezra  and 
Nehemiah,  when  the  Jewish  community  was  admittedly  exclusive. 
No  scholar  dates  this  utterance  in  the  period  immediately  after  the 
return,  though  many  (e.g.  Marti)  ascribe  it  to  the  time  just  before 
the  exiles  left  Babylon.  Moreover,  Meyer  has  forgotten  that  Ezekiel's 
Jewish  code  Ezek.  xl-xlviii^,  which  he  admits  to  be  a  very 
narrow  one  {Geschichte,  iii.  i82\  was  drafted  during  the  exile  and 
formed  the  standard  of  the  post-exilic  religious  life  of  the  Jews. 
Besides,  if,  as  Meyer  holds  {Entstehung,  239"",  Ezra  hated  the 
Samaritans  on  account  of  their  idolatry  so  much  as  to  wish  to 
keep  them  out  of  Jerusalem,  why  should  not  Zerubbabel,  acting 
in  a  similar  spirit,  refuse  co-operation  with  the  Samaritans  now  • 

It  would  be  equally  easy  to  answer  the  statement  of  Marquart 
Fnndaiiienta,  55.57)  that  the  Chronicler  invented  the  statements 


82  EZRA  4.  T,  2.     T 

4  Now  when  the  adversaries  of  Judah  and  Benjamin 
heard  that  the  children  of  the  captivity  builded  a  temple 

2  unto  the  Lord,  the  God  of  Israel ;  then  they  drew  near 

to  Zerubbabel,  and  to  the  heads  of  fathers'  houses,  and 

said  unto  them,  Let  us  build  with  you  :  for  we  seek  your 

God,  as  ye  do ;  ^  and  we  do  sacrifice  unto  him  since  the 

days  of  Esar-haddon  king  of  Assyria,  which  brought  us 

*  Another  reading  is,  yet  zve  do  no  sacrifice  since  &'c. 

in  Ezra  iv.  1-5  for  the  purpose  of  justifying  Nehemiah's  violent 
treatment  of  the  Samaritans.  See  an  able  reply  by  Jampel, 
IViederlierstellung ,  778". 

1.  adversaries:  the  Samaritans,  who  inherited  the  envy  and 
ill-will  of  the  Israelites  towards  the  Jews.  They  do  not  accurately 
describe  themselves  when  (see  ver.  2)  they  speak  of  themselves 
as  having  been  brought  from  Assyria,  for  though  that  is  true  of 
the  rulers  of  the  Samaritan  population  after  the  fall  of  the 
Northern  Kingdom,  yet  the  bulk  of  the  people  were  Israelites. 
An  inscription  of  Sargon's  says  that  only  27,000  Samaritans  were 
removed  ;  over  200,000  Jews  were  deported  into  Babylon. 

Jxidah  and  Benjamin :  the  later  designation  for  the  older 
'Judah '  :  see  on  i.  5. 

children  of  the  captivity  :  lit.  '■  sons  of,'  &c. ;  so  vi.  16,  &c.  The 
words  *  son  of  denote  in  Semitic  one  having  the  quality  annexed  ; 
a  'son  of  wisdom'  =  'a  wise  man';  'sons  of  the  captivity' 
=  '  captives.'  Here  of  course  the  expression  means  '  those  who 
had  been  captives.'  See  on  ii.  i,  where  the  abstract  'captivity' 
=  ' captives,'  according  to  a  common  usage  in  Hebrew. 

builded:  Heb.  '  were  building.' 

2.  to  Zerubbabel:  add  'and  to  Jeshua'  with  Luc,  i  Esd.  v. 
68.     Cf.  ver.  3. 

seek :  the  Hebrew  word  is  used  of  consulting  Yahweh  with 
a  view  to  receiving  an  oracle  :  see  i  Chron.  x.  14,  &c. 

The  word  came  to  be  used  then  of  worshipping  and  acknow- 
ledging as  God.  Here  the  tense  denotes  what  is  customary  : 
'We  are  in  the  habit  of  seeking,'  &c.,  i.e.  'We  are  Yahweh 
worshippers  as  much  as  ye  are.' 

we  do  sacrifice  unto  him:  the  M.T.  has  'not'  for  'unto 
him ' ;  but  these  two  Hebrew  words,  because  pronounced  alike, 
are  often  confounded  through  copying  from  dictation  :  see  Exod. 
xxi.  8,  &c.  The  Hebrew  text  means  'we  do  not  sacrifice  i^unto 
idols),'  but  the  verb  rendered  sacrifice  has  never  by  itself  the 
sense '  to  sacrifice  to  idols.'  The  versions,  including  i  Esdras,  have 
'unto  him'  as  the  E.VV. 


EZRA  4.  3-6.     T  R  83 

up  hither.     But  Zerubbabel,  and  Jeshua,  and  the  rest  of  3 
the  heads  of  fathers'  houses  of  Israel,  said  unto  them,  Ye 
have  nothing  to  do  with  us  to  build  an  house  unto  our 
God  ;  but  we  ourselves  together  will  build  unto  the  Lord, 
the  God  of  Israel,  as  king  Cyrus  the  king  of  Persia  hath 
commanded  us.     Then  the  people  of  the  land  weakened  4 
the  hands  of  the  people  of  Judah,  and  ^  troubled  them  in 
building,  and  hired  counsellors  against  them,  to  frustrate  5 
their  purpose,  all  the  days  of  Cyrus  king  of  Persia,  even 
until  the  reign  of  Darius  king  of  Persia.     [R]  And  in  the  6 

*  Or,  terrified 

Esar-haddon :  we  are  nowhere  else  in  the  Old  Testament 
told  that  this  Assyrian  king  populated  Samaria  with  the  inhabi- 
tants from  other  rebellious  parts  (Assyria),  though  we  are  told  quite 
definitely  in  the  inscriptions  that  he  populated  other  conquered 
countries  and  districts  in  this  way.  There  does  not  seem  the 
slightest  reason  for  reading  Sargon  or  Ashurbanipal  here  (see 
COT.  ii.  61,  where  Schrader  defends  the  genuineness  of  the 
name  here  after  denying  it  in  an  earlier  writing).  We  read  of  other 
deportations  in  2  Kings  xvii.  24  ff.  (by  Sargon),  and  in  Ezra  iv.  10 
(Osnappar  =  Ashurbanipal). 

3.  as  king"  Cyrus,  Sec. :  see  i.  3.  Cyrus's  decree  had 
reference  to  the  Jews  in  exile,  and  to  no  others. 

4.  the  people  of  tlie  land  :  i.  e.  the  adversaries  of  ver.  i  (see 
on  iii,  3).  In  post-biblical  Hebrew  the  phrase  means  the  'common 
people,'  'the  uneducated'  in  particular.  There  may  be  here  a  touch 
of  irony — 'these  ignorant  Samaritans':  see  iii.  3  and  ix.  i  ;  cf. 
John  vii.  49. 

weakened  the  hands:  lit.  'made  the  hands  hang  down  loose ' — 
that  is,  they  took  heart  out  of  them  ;  discouraged  them:  see  Neh.  v.  9. 

troubled:  Heb.  though  the  Hebrew  letters  have  been  acci- 
dentally mixed)  'they  frightened  them  as  regards  building,'  i.  e. 
they  terrified  them  so  by  threats  that  they  were  afraid  to  go  on 
with  the  work. 

5.  hired  counsellors,  &c.  :  paid  men  who  had  influence  at  the 
Persian  court  and  skill  in  speech  to  plead  their  cause  before  the 
king  and  his  ministers;  cf.  Neh.  xiii.  3.  The  verb  translated  to 
frustrate  means  lit.  '  to  break,'  and  occurs  also  in  Neh.  iv.  9. 

the  days  of  Cyrus  .  .  .  until  the  reign  of  Darius,  i.  e. 
fourteen  years,  made  up  as  follows  ;  five  (last)  3'ears  of  Cyrus, 
seven  years  of  Cambyses,  seven  months  of  Pseudo-Smerdis,  two 
years  of  Darius  (Hystaspis). 

G    2 


84  EZRA  4 

IV.  6-23  (i  Esd.  ii.  15-25  (26)). 
Opposition  to  the  Building  of  the  City  Walls  a  Short  Timk 

BEFORE    the    FiRST    ArRIVAL    OF    NeHEMIAH,    OR    AFTER     HIS 

Arrival  and  During  his  Work. 

This  section  has  strayed  from  its  proper  place  in  Nehemiah,  or 
more  probably  from  its  place  between  Ezra  x  and  Neh.  i.  It  has 
nothing  to  do  with  the  building  of  tlie  Temple,  which  had  been  com- 
pleted before  Ezra's  arrival :  it  is  of  the  restoration  of  the  walls 
that  we  here  read  (see  ver.  12).  In  a  similar  way  Neh.  vii.  73'^ 
to  X  belong  to  the  life  and  work  of  Ezra  and  not  to  those  of  Nehe- 
miah, and  must  be  placed  in  what  we  call  'Ezra'  (see  on  that 
passage).  It  is  marvellous,  remembering  that  books  in  those  times 
consisted  of  prepared  skins  written  on  and  then  attached,  that  far 
more  of  our  O.T.  is  not  dislocated  than  is  the  case. 

Apart  from  the  fact  that  we  read  in  these  verses  of  the  repairing 
of  the  walls  and  not  of  the  restoration  of  the  Temple^  chronological 
considerations  show  that  we  have  here  a  narrative  that  is  out  of 
its  true  connexion.  In  ver.  6  we  read  of  King  Xerxes  (485-465), 
and  in  verses  7  -33  it  is  of  his  successor  Artaxerxes  (Longimanus, 
465-423)  that  we  read.  Then  in  ver.  24  we  have  mention  of 
King  Darius,  by  whom  we  are  certainly  to  understand  Darius 
Hystaspis  (521-486).  Ingenious  and  learned  attempts  have  been 
made  to  account  for  this  chronological  anomaly,  none  of  them  so 
satisfactory  as  the  explanation  given  above,  which  is  that  of 
many  recent  scholars  (Kuenen,  v.  Hoonacker,  Kent,  &c. ),  It  should 
be  said  that  all  external  evidence,  including  that  of  i  Esd.  ii  is 
against  transferring  verses  6-23  to  Nehemiah. 

Where  are  we  to  place  the  incidents  of  Ezra  iv.  7-23  ?  Pro- 
bably, with  Meyer  and  v.  Hoonacker,  between  Ezra  x  and  Neh.  i,. 
and  not  with  Kent  after  Neh.  vi,  since  in  the  latter  chapter  we  read 
of  the  completion  of  the  walls.  The  sad  condition  of  Jerusalem 
and  of  its  inhabitants  which  Neh.  i.  3  implies  seems  to  be  that 
which  followed  upon  the  royal  edict  in  Ezra  iv.  21  fF.  The  sur- 
prise and  grief  of  Nehemiah  on  hearing  the  report  of  Hanani,  his 
brother,  must  have  been  due  not  to  his  learning  for  the  first  time 
of  the  royal  edict  -  of  that  he  could  not  but  have  had  knowledge— 
but  to  his  hearing  of  the  cruel  way  in  which  that  edict  was  carried 
out.  It  was  of  some  recent  calamity  that  Nehemiah  heard,  and 
not.  as  Keil,  Schultz,  &c.,  held,  of  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  in 
586  by  Nebuchadnezzar.  This  latter  could  have  been  no  news  to 
Nehemiah,  not  even  the  manner  and  results  of  it.  Graetz  and 
Kosters  deny  the  historicity  of  the  section,  mainly  because  (see 
ver.  12)  it  implies  that  there  was  a  return  of  exiles  before  the 
arrival  of  Ezra  and  his  companions  ;  but  see  Introd.,  p.  230". 

According  to  the  present  text  (M.T.)  of  verses  6  ff. ,  three  letters 
of  complaint  are  forwarded  to  the  Persian  court,  (i)  One  issent 
to  King  Xerxes — by  whom   we  are  not  told,   though   we   mu^t 


EZRA  4.  6.     R  85 

reign  of  ^  Ahasuerus,  in  the  beginning  of  his  reign,  wrote 
*  Or,  Xerxes     Heb.  Ahashverosh. 

understand  the  Samaritans  to  be  the  senders.  (2)  A  second  is 
sent  by  Mithredath.  (3)  Rehum,  &c.,  forward  a  letter — the  third 
to  be  mentioned  in  verses  6-8.  In  i  Esd.  ii.  16  the  first  letter 
(ver.  6)  is  ignored,  and  the  senders  of  2  and  3  are  united  and 
made  the  senders  of  one  letter  between  them,  though  Rehum,  the 
commander,  and  Shimshai,  the  recorder  (the  names  differ  con- 
siderably in  the  Greek  of  the  Apocrypha)  are  mentioned  twice, 
showing  that  there  is  some  confusion.  In  the  original  text  men- 
tion was  made,  perhaps,  of  two  letters  :  (i)  one  sent  in  the  reign 
of  Xerxes  (ver.  6) ;  (2)  another  sent  to  Artaxerxes  from  members 
of  the  Samaritan  party  at  Jerusalem  (Mithredath,  &c.)  through 
the  Persian  officials,  Rehum,  &c.,  who  resided  at  Samaria  ;  it  is 
to  them  that  the  king  sends  his  answer.  Probably,  however,  we 
are  with  i  Esdras  to  omit  ver.  6  (see  on),  so  that  we  have  but  one 
letter  sent  to  Artaxerxes  I,  and  not  two.  This  one  letter  was 
sent  from  Jerusalem  by  Jewish  leaders  to  the  Persian  official  at 
Samaria,  to  be  forwarded  to  the  king  :  see  on  verses  8-10. 
Klostermann  ^,  followed  in  part  by  Scllin,  holds  that  in  this 
correspondence  it  is  Tabeel  and  his  companions  who  write  in  the 
name  ('Bishlam'  is  so  read)  of  Mithredath  to  plead  with  the 
king  to  allow  the  Jews  to  go  on  with  their  work  of  rebuilding, 
adding  the  incidents  mentioned  in  v.  i-vi.  18  to  show  that  in  the 
past  the  charges  brought  against  the  Jews  had  been  found  base- 
less, as  the  charges  now  made  are  likely  to  be.  This  view  of  the 
Aramaic  section,  besides  requiring  a  large  number  of  textual 
changes,   is  in  itself  most  improbable. 

6.  This  verse  cannot  go  along  with  verses  7-23  if  the  above 
placing  of  this  section  is  correct,  since  Ahasuerus  (the  Xerxes 
of  the  Greek)  reigned  485-465  B.C.,  so  that  nothing  occurring  in 
his  reign  could  belong  to  the  period  between  Ezra  x  and  Neh.  i 
(cir.  446  B.C.)  or  to  the  time  following  the  events  of  Neh.  vi. 
Probably  the  verse  was  inserted  as  a  link  of  connexion  between 
iv.  5  and  verses  7-23  after  the  latter  verses  had  by  mistake  got 
into  their  present  context.  Nothing  corresponding  to  this 
verse  occurs  in  the  parallel  section  of  i  Esdras,  which  is  an 
additional  reason  for  regarding  it  as  an  interpolation. 

Ahasuerus  :  Heb.  Akhashwerosh  ;  Old  Pers.  Khshaydisha  ; 
Aram.  Papj'ri  (Sayce  and  Cowley,  consonants  only)  K^y^7-^ :  the 
well-known  king  of  Persia  called  Xerxes  bj'the  Greek  historians. 

wrote  they:  render  '  there  was  written,'  which  the  Hebrew 
equally  allows.  We  are  not  told  who  made  the  charge.  According 
to  the  present  connexion  of  the  verse  it  must  have  been  the 
Samaritan  part}', 

'  Hereog^^\V.,p.  516  f. 


86  EZRA  4.  7,  8.     R  Ca 

they  an  accusation  against  the  inhabitants  of  Judah  and 

Jerusalem. 

[Ca]  And  in  the  days  of  •'^Artaxerxes  wrote  Bishlam,Mith- 

redath,  Tabeel,  and  the  rest  of  his  companions,  unto  Arta- 

xerxes  king  of  Persia ;  and  the  writing  of  the  letter  was 

written  in  the  ^Syrian  character, and  set  forth  in  the  ^Syrian 

t07igue.    c  Rehum  the  chancellor  and  Shimshai  the  scribe 

*  Heb.  Arfahshashta.  ^  Or,  Aramaic 

'^  Ch.  iv.  8-vi.  i8  is  in  Aramaic. 

accusation:  Heb.  sitnah  (occurring  here  only  in  the  O.T.), 
cognate  with  the  noun  Satan,  *  one  that  accuses,'  or  '  maligns.' 

7-IO.  Lei ter  sent  to  Artaxerxes.     See  Remarks,  p.  84  f. 

h.  Bishlam:  read  '  with  (their)  greeting  '  ;  so  LXX  (including 
Luc),  Syr.,  Klosterm.  :  '  Mithredath,  &c.,  write  sending  their 
respects.'  No  change  in  the  original  Hebrew  text  is  necessary, 
and  but  a  change  of  one  vowel  in  the  present  text. 

Mithredath :  not  the  Persian  official  of  i.  8.  The  Persians 
mentioned  in  ver.  7  were  all  probably  residents  in  Jerusalem, 
members  of  the  Samaritan  party,  all  of  them  also,  it  would  seem, 
subordinate  officials  of  the  Persian  government. 

Tabeel:  an  Aramaic  name  =  '  God  is  good'  (see  Isa.  vii.  6). 
letter :    Heb,   nishfwan,  of  Persian   origin  :    found   only  in 
Ezra.     See  on  ver.  8  (letter). 

For  Syrian  ('  Syriac  '  is  now  used  of  the  language  and  of  its 
letters)  use  '  Aramaic,'  which  is  a  broader  term.  The  R.Vm.  gives 
the  right  sense  of  the  Hebrew.  It  was  neither  the  Persian 
character  nor  the  Persian  language.  Though  it  would  seem  first 
written  in  Persian  by  Persian  officials,  the  letter  was  then  trans- 
lated into  Aramaic,  the  language  of  Persian  diplomacy  (see 
p.  13  ff.),  and  of  course  then  vi^ritten  with  Aramaic  characters — 
the  so-called  Assyrian  or  square  letters  used  in  modern  Heb.  Bibles. 

8-10.  The  letter  composed  and  written  at  Jerusalem  was  sent 
to  the  Commander  and  Recorder  of  Transpotamia,  who  resided  in 
Samaria.  They  were  asked  to  transmit  it  with  their  dispatches  to  the 
king.  At  the  close  of  the  verse  we  must  supply  actually  or  in  sense 
words  similar  to  ('  forwarded  the  letter')  '  which  was  as  follows.' 

8-23  is  written  in  Aramaic  closely  resembling  that  of  the  papyri 
recently  found  in  Egypt.     See  p.  13  ff. 

8.  Behum  .  .  .  Shimshai  :  that  the  letter  indited  in  Jerusalem 
was  sent  through  these  two  men  and  their  associates  is  confirmed 
by  the  fact  that  the  answer  of  the  king  was  addressed  to  these 
same  persons.     It  is,  however,  evident  that  verses  8  f.  have  got 


EZRA  4.  9.     Ca  87 

wrote  a  letter  against  Jerusalem  to  Artaxerxes  the  king  in 
this  sort :  then  wrote  Rehum  the  chancellor,  and  Shim- 
shai  the  scribe,  and  the  rest  of  their  companions ;  the 

somewhat  mixed  up,  the  above  two  names  being  mentioned  by 
mistake  twice.  Render  as  follows  :  8.  '  Rehum  .  .  .  and  Shimshai 
9.  and  the  rest  (being)  their  associates  (viz.)  the  judges,'  «&c. " 

chancellor:  lit.  'master  of  counsel,'  i.e.  counsellor.  We 
are  no  doubt  to  understand  the  subordinate  or  Samaritan  lieutenant 
of  the  Transpotamian  Satrap.  So  Meyer,  Menti,  Bertholet,  &c. 
With  the  rapid  extension  of  the  Persian  empire  under  Cyrus  the 
territory  was  divided  into  four  large  satrapies,  the  country  west  of 
the  Euphrates  and  south  of  the  Taurus  and  Amanus  being  one.  In 
Ezra  viii.  36,  &c.,  Neh.  ii.  7,  9,  &c.,  and  in  i  Kings  iv.  24  (Heb.  v.  4) 
it  has  the  name  Eher  Hannah ar,  which  =  'what  is  beyond  the  river ' 
(Euphrates),  and  as  it  is  really  a  proper  name  we  must  call  it  by 
its  Hebrew  name  (against  its  slightly  different  Aramaic  form 
'speaks')  or  call  it  Transpotamia,  a  name  corresponding  to  Meso- 
potamia (  =  between  the  rivers),  though  this  new  name  does  not  of 
course  occur  as  Mesopotamia  does  in  classical  or  in  any  authors. 
Throughout  the  present  volume  '  Transpotamia  '  will  be  used. 
Meyer  transliterates  the  Aramaic,  calling  the  satrapy  '  Abarnahara.' 
That  the  name  was  used  regardless  of  its  literal  sense  is  shown  by 
the  fact  that  it  is  used  by  those  who  lived  west  of  the  Euphrates 
as  well  as  by  those  residing  east  of  that  river  :  see  the  passages 
already  referred  to.  Notwithstanding  the  meaning  of  the  name  the 
district  embraced  also  the  Aramaean  country  and  some  other  locali- 
ties east  of  the  river.      See  Meyer,  Gesch.,  iii.  136  f.  ;  cf.  p.  49  ff. 

the  scribe  :  i.  e.  chief  secretary  of  the  Samaritan  lieutenant. 

a  letter:  the  word  used  (here  in  its  Aram,  form)  denotes 
always  an  official  communication,  as  from  the  king  or  governor.  It 
occurs  only  in  its  Hebrew  form  (iggeret)  in  Nehemiah  (five  times), 
Esther  (twice),  and  Chronicles  (twice).  In  its  Aramaic  form  it  is 
found  in  Ezra  (four  times)  alone.  It  may  be  of  Babylonian  origin 
{egirtu),  as  Fried.  Delitzsch,  Sayce,  Meissner,  &c.,  hold,  but  that 
is  uncertain  ^     See  on  ver.  7  and  on  Neh.  ii.  7. 

9  f.  Those  who  joined  Rehum  and  Shimshai  in  the  appeal  to 
Aiiaxerxes.  We  have  here  a  mixture  of  official  and  tribal  (or 
local  ?)  names  which  have  caused  much  discussion,  and  in  regard  to 
which  no  certain  conclusion  is  possible.  Perhaps  even  the  names 
of  peoples  are  to  be  understood  in  an  official  sense  :  e.  g.  the 
Babylonians  =  those  in  charge  of  astronomical  matters  and  ques- 
tions of  the  calendar  arising  therefrom,  &c. 

^  Prof.  Sayce  says  that  the  etymology  of  the  word  can  be  ex- 
plained from  the  Babylonian  alone,  which  shows,  in  his  opinion,  that 
the  Hebrew  and  Aramaic  terms  are  borrowed  from  the  Babylonian. 


&8  EZRA  4.  10.     Ca 

Dinaites,  and  the  Apharsathchites,  the  Tarpehtes,  the 

Apharsites,  the  Archevites,  the  Babylonians,  the  Shushan- 

10  chites,   the  Dehaites,  the  Elamites,  and  the  rest  of  the 

nations  whom  the  great  and  noble  Osnappar  brought 

9.  the  Dinaites,  &c.  :  render,  'The  Persian  judges,  the 
Persian  tarpelites,  &c.,  the  Archevites,'  &c.  The  words  Aphar- 
sathchites, Apharsites  in  ver.  9,  and  Apharsachites  in  v.  6  and  vi, 
have  never  been  satisfactorily  explained,  though  many  guesses 
have  been  made  as  to  places  whence  the  words  are  supposed  to 
be  derived.  Hoffmann  and  Meyer  suggest  that  at  the  basis  of 
each  word  we  have  the  Hebrew  and  Aramaic  word  for  Persia — 
the  consonants  are  identical — and  that  the  ch  in  Apharsathchites 
and  Apharsachites  is  the  old  Persian  (Iranian)  adjectival  ending. 
Meyer  then  omits  '  and,'  rendering  as  above.  The  '  Persian 
judges '  and  the  '  Persian  tarpelites  '  (an  unexplained  official  term) 
of  the  Samaritan  subsatrapy  are  not  to  be  classed  with  those 
whom  the  Assyrian  king  Osnappar  transported.  Of  many  ex- 
planations this  seems  to  the  present  writer  the  most  likely,  or  at  any 
rate  the  least  unlikely  one.  See  Meyer,  jE'm^s/,,  35  ff.  v.  Hoonacker 
{Notivelles  Etudes,  p.  166  ff.)  argues  strongly  that  the  words  here 
stand  for  peoples  and  not  for  officials,  as  Kosters  maintained. 

Dinaites:  read  (slightly  altering  the  vowels)  'judges.'  So 
I  Esdras,  Luc,  and  some  MSS.  of  the  LXX. 

Apharsathchites:  render  'Persian.'  The  initial  is  pros- 
thetic and  no  part  of  the  root  (so  often  in  similar  words  :  see 
Meyer,  as  above),  and  the  't'  wrongly  inserted.  The  original 
letters  corresponding  to  '  phars '  are  those  of  Persia. 

Tarpelites :  probably  officials,  though  the  etymology  of  the 
word  is  untraceable.     Perhaps  the  text  is  at  fault. 

Apharsites :  render  '  Persian  '  (see  above). 

Archevites:  people  from  Erek  (Gen.  x.  10),  the  Assyrian 
Arku  =  Urku  in  Babylon. 

Shvishanchites :  the  ch  is  the  old  Persian  (Iran.)  adjective 
ending  (s^e  on  Apharsathchites) '.  We  are  to  understand  people 
from  Susa. 

the  Dehaites,  the  Elamites  :  read  and  render  '  that  is  the 
Elamites,'  Susa  being  the  ancient  capital  of  Elam  :  so  LXX  (not 
Lnc)  and  most  moderns.  We  should  hardly  in  English  speak 
of  '  Londoners  and  English  people.' 

10.  Osnappar :  identified  first  b3'  Gelzer  and  since  by  nearly 
all  scholars  with  Ashurbanipal  (king  of  Ass3'ria  from  668  to  626), 
the  Sardanapallos  of  the  Greeks.  Two  consonants  have  dropped 
out  of  the  word  ;  in  other  respects  the  consonants  of  both  words 

^  The  old  Elamite  form  is  'Susunqa.'     (So  Sayce). 


EZRA  4.  II,  I.'.     Ca  89 

over,  and  set  in  the  city  of  Samaria,  and  in  the  rest  of 
the  country  beyond  the  river,  and  so  forth.     This  is  the  u 
copy  of  the  letter  that  they  sent  unto  Artaxerxes  the 
king ;  Thy  servants  the  men  beyond  the  river,  and  so 
forth.     Be  it  known  unto  the  king,  that  the  Jews  which  la 

are  almost  identical,  notwithstanding  the  differences  in  English. 
r  and  /  are  written  v^ry  much  alike  in  Aramaic  :  see  Sayce  and 
Cowley  {^Aramaic  Papyri). 

bronerht  over  :  this  does  not  apply  to  the  Persian  officials 
mentioned  in  the  preceding  verse ;  see  notes  on. 

in  the  rest,  &c.  :  render  '  in  other  parts  of  Transpotamia.' 
The  words  in  italics  are  not  needed.  The  Aramaic  (and  Hebrew) 
for  *  beyond  the  river  '  is  really  a  proper  name,  and  might  well  be 
represented  in  English  by  Transpotamia,  cf.  Mesopotamia.  The 
proper  name  thus  suggested  is,  though  a  hybrid,  less  objection- 
able than  any  other  which  occurs  to  the  present  writer.  *  Beyond 
the  river '  is  misleading,  as  it  is  often  used  of  dwellers  who  are 
themselves  '  beyond  the  river  *  (Euphrates),  though  it  denotes  the 
same  stretch  of  country  in  their  mouths  as  in  the  mouths  of,  say, 
Persians  :  see  on  ver.  8. 

Samaria  was  not  the  only  part  of  the  province  or  satrapy  whither 
the  Assyrian  king  brought  foreign  settlers.  These,  or  the  officials 
so  designated,  joined  in  the  message  to  the  Persian  king. 

and  so  forth :  render  (wrote)  '  as  follows.'  The  original 
words  are  used  (see  vii.  12  and  the  Aramaic  papyri)  as  a  formula 
introducing  a  letter.  The  verb  *  wrote  '  is  to  be  supplied  from 
ver.  9,  but  in  Aramaic  (as  in  Hebrew)  does  not  need  to  be  repeated. 

11-16.   Contents  of  the  letter  containing  the  accusation. 

Kuenen  {Einleitnng,  i.  2,  178)  and  Stade  {Gesch.,  ii.  159)  say  that 
the  letter  bears  marks  of  fabrication  with  a  view  to  extolling  the 
power  of  the  Jews  (see  verses  13,  19  f.).  But  the  senders  of  such 
a  missive  would  of  set  purpose  magnify  the  power  of  the  Jewish 
community. 

11.  copy:  the  word  used  here  is  of  Persian  origin  ;  it  occurs 
in  ver.  23,  v.  6,  vii.  11,  and  (with  the  difference  of  one  letter)  in 
Esther  iii.  14,  iv.  8,  viii.  13. 

tlie  men  beyond  the  river  :  render  '  the  men  of  Transpo- 
tamia ' :  see  on  ver.  8. 

and  so  forth :  see  on  ver.  10. 

12.  Jews :  this  is  the  earliest  occurrence  of  this  word  for  the 
new  religious  community  in  Jerusalem  :  previously  it  denoted  the 
inhabitants  of  the  Southern  Kingdom  (2  Kings  xvi.  6,  xxv.  25,  &c.). 
It  is  in  this  new  sense  that  the  term  is  now  emploj'ed.  With  us 
'  Jews  '  are  those  who  profess  Judaism  wherever  they  live. 


90  EZRA  4.  13-15.     C 


came  up  from  thee  are  come  to  us  unto  Jerusalem ;  they 
are  building  the  rebellious  and  the  bad  city,  and  have 

13  finished  the  walls,  and  repaired  the  foundations.  Be  it 
known  now  unto  the  king,  that,  if  this  city  be  builded, 
and  the  walls  finished,  they  will  not  pay  tribute,  custom, 

14  or  toll,  and  in  the  end  it  will  endamage  the  kings.  Now 
because  we  eat  the  salt  of  the  palace,  and  it  is  not  meet 
for  us  to  see  the  king's  dishonour,  therefore  have  we 

15  sent  and  certified  the  king ;  that  search  may  be  made  in 
the  book  of  the  records  of  thy  fathers  :  so  shalt  thou 

have  finislxed,  &c.  :  in  the  next  verse  the  finishing  of  the 
wall  is  still  in  the  future.  Better  therefore  treat  the  forms  of  the 
verb  here  and  there  as  future  perfects  :  '  They  are  building  .  .  .  and 
will  have  finished  . ,  .  and  repaired.'  Tense  as  such  is  not  expressed 
in  Semitic,  but  manner  of  action,  either  completed  or  still  pro- 
ceeding, and  that  in  past,  present,  or  future.  See  Heinrich  Ewaldj 
a  Centenary  Appreciation  (by  the  present  writer),   pp.  48  ff.,  81  if. 

13.  tribute:  a  money  contribution  paid  by  a  subject  province 
to  the  imperial  exchequer  :  see  vi.  8  and  Neh.  v.  4. 

custom  :  a  tax  levied  on  income  (merchandise,  agricultural 
produce,  proceeds  of  the  chase  or  of  fishing,  &c.),  and  used  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  province  itself  and  the  pa3'ment  of  its  officials. 

toll :  a  road  tax  for  the  upkeep  of  the  roads  and  for  making 
new  ones.  Cf.  the  charge  made  in  this  country  until  lately  at 
turnpike  gates. 

in  the  end:  so  Bertheau-Rj'ssel  (tracing  the  word  to 
Persian),  Fried.  Delitzsch  (deriving  from  Bab3']onian),  and  others. 
The  majority  of  scholars,  changing  the  final  letter  to  one  almost 
exactly  like  it  (5  for  m),  give  it  a  rendering  similar  to  that  of  the 
A.V.,  translating  this  part  of  the  verse  thus  :  'and  it  (the  city) 
will  affect  injuriously  the  revenue  of  the  kings.'     So  the  Rabbis. 

14.  we  eat  the  salt  of  the  palace  :  in  Aramaic  the  verb 
rendered  eat  and  the  noun  for  salt  are  cognate,  '  we  eat  salt  of  the 
salt,'  &c.  Cf.  Heb.  '  to  sacrifice  a  sacrifice  =  to  offer  a  sacrifice' 
(see  Num.  v.  15).  This  is  a  common  idiom  in  Semitic  :  *  To  eat 
of  the  salt  of  the  palace  '  = '  to  be  in  the  king's  service.'  Kautzsch 
[Aram.  Gratnniar,  71,  72),  followed  by  Bertholet,  holds  that 
a  symbolic  act  is  here  to  be  understood,  viz.  making  a  covenant 
by  salt :  see  Num.  xviii.  rg  ;  2  Chron.  xiii.  5  ;  cf.  Lev.  ii.  13.  So 
BDB.,  which  interprets:  *  we  have  assumed  obligations  of 
lo5'alt3'.' 

15.  hook:     read    (with  Luc,  Vulg.,   i    Esd.   ii.  21)    'books,' 


EZRA  4.  16,  17.     C,v  91 

find  in  the  book  of  the  records,  and  know  that  this  city  is 
a  rebellious  city,  and  hurtful  unto  kings  and  provinces, 
and  that  they  have  moved  sedition  within  the  same  of  old 
time  :  for  which  cause  was  this  city  laid  waste.  We  cer-  16 
tify  the  king  that,  if  this  city  be  builded,  and  the  walls 
finished,  by  this  means  thou  shalt  have  no  portion  beyond 
the  river.     Then  sent  the  king  an  answer  unto  Rehum  the  17 

We  must  understand,  however,  in  the  case  of  Assyria  and  Babylon, 
clay  tablets  similar  to  those  found  some  twenty  years  ago  in  Tel- 
el-Amarna,  Egypt  The  Persians  had  (Ktesias  says)  adopted  the 
custom  prevalent  in  Palestine  of  writing  with  ink  on  skins.  The 
reference  is  to  state  records  such  as  were  kept  by  Greeks  (see 
Herod,  viii.  90),  Egyptians  {Zeitschrift  fiir  Agyptologie,  xxxviii.  8), 
and  other  ancient  nations.  See  vi.  i ;  Esther  ii.  23,  vi.  i  ;  2  Mace, 
ii.  13  ;  cf.  Mai.  iii.  16,  and  my  note  on  Esther  ii.  23. 

fathers  :   i.  e.  predecessors,  Persian,  Babylon,  and  Assyrian. 

and  that  they,  &c.  :  i  Esd.  ii.  23  supplies  the  subject  *  the 
Jews,'  which  has  accidental!}'  fallen  out  of  the  Hebrew. 

city  laid  waste :  referring  to  its  destruction  in  586  by 
Nebuchadnezzar.  Jerusalem  would  not  have  been  destroyed  but 
for  the  disloyalty  of  its  subject-king  (Zedekiah)  and  people  to  its 
Babylonian  conqueror. 

16.  The  king  is  assured  that  if  he  allows  Jerusalem  to  be  once 
more  fortified  it  would  throw  off  allegiance  to  him  as  it  had  to  his 
Babylonian  predecessor  in  586. 

heyoud  the  river  :  i.  e.  in  Transpotamia  :  see  on  ver.  8. 

17-23.  The  king's  reply.  Kosters  and  others  see  in  ver.  19 
a  proof  that  the  whole  of  this  section  is  an  invention  of  the 
Chronicler  to  magnif}'  the  importance  of  the  Jewish  nation  in  the 
past.  But  it  would  harmonize  with  the  scheme  of  the  Samaritan 
party  to  exaggerate  the  past  power  of  the  Jews,  so  as  to  make 
the  king  afraid  of  the  power  they  might  yet  acquire  and  use. 
Besides,  conquerors  often  make  the  power  of  conquered  foes 
greater  than  it  is,  so  as  to  make  their  own  prowess  appear  the 
greater. 

Wellhausen  objects  to  the  historicitj'  of  this  narrative  because 
(he  says)  the  Artaxerxes  who  (Neh.  ii)  permitted  the  walls  to  be 
built  could  not  at  an  earlier  date  have  prohibited  the  same  and 
commanded  the  demolition  of  what  was  built.  But  he  forgets  or 
does  not  know  that,  as  Noldeke,  Meyer,  and  other  historians  have 
pointed  out,  this  king  was  a  very  capricious  man,  and  did  many 
things  which  it  is  impossible  to  reconcile  with  any  consistent 
policy. 


92  EZRA  4.  18-20.     Ca 

chancellor,  and  to  vShimshai  the  scribe,  and  to  the  rest  of 

their  companions  that  dwell  in  Samaria,  and  ^  in  the  rest 

\^  of  the  cou7itry  beyond  the  river,  Peace,  and  so  forth.    The 

letter  which  ye  sent  unto  us  hath  been  ^^  plainly  read  before 

19  me.  And  I  decreed,  and  search  hath  been  made,  and  it 
is  found  that  this  city  of  old  time  hath  made  insurrection 
against  kings,  and  that  rebellion  and  sedition  have  been 

20  made  therein.  There  have  been  mighty  kings  also  over 
Jerusalem,  which  have  ruled  over  all  the  country  beyond 
the  river ;  and  tribute,  custom,  and  toll,  was  paid  unto 

*  Or,  unto  the  rest  beyond  &c.  ^  Or,  translated 

17-22.  Answer  of  the  king.  The  king's  answer  came  to  Rehum 
and  his  companions  ;  there  was  therefore  but  one  letter  sent  at 
this  time,  not  two  :  see  on  verses  6-23. 

17.  answer:  the  original  term  here  {pithgama)  comes  from  the 
Persian  and  denotes  usually  the  decision  of  a  king  (see  Esther  i.  20). 

chancellor  :  see  on  v.  8. 

18.  plainly  (read) :  lit.  *  distinctl3'/  separating  the  sounds  and 
words  so  as  to  make  the  meaning  clear.  Ignore  the  R.  Vm.  '  trans- 
lated.' The  verb,  whence  the  word  occurring  here,  denotes  in 
Heb.  and  Aram,  primarily  •  to  separate,'  and  then  '  to  interpret.' 
But  here  (Aram.)  and  in  Neh.  viii.  8  (Heb.)  the  passive  participle 
is  used  adverbially  '  distinctl}','  i.  e.  sounding  the  words  and  parts 
of  words  so  that  each  can  be  followed  and  understood. 

19.  this  city  of  old  time  hatli  made  insurrection,  &c.  :  see 
2  Kings  xviii.  7  ;  xxiv.  i,  20. 

20.  Render,  '  And  mighty  kings  have  there  been  over  Jeru- 
salem, yea  (such  as)  have  exercised  rule  over  all  Transpotamia,' 
&c.  We  need  not  understand  these  words  as  stating  what  is 
strictly  true.  The  officials  in  Samaria  would  have  strong  reasons 
for  exaggeration.  The  more  powerful  Jewish  kings  had  been  the 
greater  the  danger  to  the  Persian  power  now.  Still  the  words  seem 
hardly  too  strong  as  applied  to  David  and  .Solomon,  and  the  archives 
of  their  reigns  might  well  have  been  preserved  at  Jerusalem  until 
removed  by  Nebuchadnezzar  to  Babylon.  G.  Rawlinson  thinks  the 
reference  is  either  to  Menahem,  King  of  Israel  (see  2  Kings  x\'. 
14-16),  or  to  Josiah  (2  Chron.  xxxiv.  6f.  ;  xxxv.  18)  ;  but  the  state 
of  things  in  their  reigns  does  not  correspond  to  this  description. 
On  the  Arch  of  Titus  at  Rome  there  is  an  equally  exaggerated 
account  of  the  greatness  of  Jerusalem,  which  Titus  had  conquered 
and  destroyed,  and  these  words  are  due  to  the  Roman  Senate. 

tribute,  &c.  :  see  on  ver.  13. 


EZRA  4.  21-24.     C,  Tv  93 

them.     Make  ye  now  a  decree  to  cause  these  men  to  2  r 
cease,  and  that  this  city  be  not  builded,  until  a  decree 
shall  be  made  by  me.  And  take  heed  that  ye  be  not  slack  2  2 
herein  :    why   should  damage  grow   to   the  hurt  of  the 
kings  ?     Then  when  the  copy  of  king  Artaxerxes'  letter  23 
was  read  before  Rehum,   and  Shimshai  the  scribe,  and 
their  companions,  they  went  in  haste  to  Jerusalem  unto 
the  Jews,  and  made  them  to  cease  by  force  and  power. 
[Ta]  Then  ceased  the  work  of  the  house  of  God  which  24 
is  at  Jerusalem ;  and  it  ceased  unto  the  second  year  of 
the  reign  of  Darius  king  of  Persia. 

21.  until  a  decree,  &c. :  such  a  decree  was  issued  to  Nehemiah : 
see  Neh.  ii.  8fF. 

22.  why,  &c. :  render,  'lest  mischief  be  increased  so  as  to  injure 
the  kings.'     So  essentially  the  Versions. 

Behuin:   add  'the  counsellor'  as  in  verses  8  f .  and  17  with 
the  Versions,  including  Luc.  and  i  Esdras  ii.  25. 

23.  The  work  is  stopped  as  the  king  commanded. 

23.  by  force  and  power:  lit.  'with  an  arm  and  with  strength,' 
i.e.  'with  a  strong  arm,'  a  hendiadys.  The  second  word  means 
also  'an  army,'  'a  crowd  of  people.'  Syr.  'with  a  powerful 
army,'  which  the  original  may  mean,  as  'arm'  often  ^  'strength' 
(see  Job  xxii.  8,  &c. ),  and  '  strength  and  army '  =  a  '  strong  army  ' 
(hendiadys). 

IV.  24-VI.  23  (II  I  Esd.  ii.  25HVI,  VII). 
Continuation  of  the  Narrative  interrupted  by  iv.  6-33.    The 
Rebuilding    of    the    Temple,   with    the   Approval   and 
Support  of  the  King  of  Persia. 

iv.  24-v.  5.  Rebuilding  of  the  Temple  resumed  and  opposed. 

iv.  24.  This  verse  is  the  natural  continuation  of  ver.  5.  The 
interruption  in  the  building  of  the  Temple  lasted  until  the  second 
year  of  Darius  Hystaspis,  i.  e.  until  520.  The  occurrence  (twice) 
of  the  verb  'cease'  in  ver.  24  and  of  the  transitive  form  (Pa.)  of  the 
same  verb  in  ver.  23  may  have  led  the  compiler  to  place  iv.  6-23 
immediately  before  ver.  24,  though  in  reality  the  latter  has  reference 
to  the  Temple,  the  interpolated  passage  to  the  walls. 

V.  17.  Haggai  and  Zechariah  urge  the  people  to  complete  the 
building  of  the  Temple. 

From  the  fact  that  under  the  influence  of  the  preaching  of 
these  prophets  the  work  of  building  the  Temple  was  resumed 


94  EZRA  5.  I.     Ta 

5      Now  the  prophets,  Haggai  the  prophet,  and  Zechariah 

il  may  be  inferred  that  this  task  was  not  made  impossible  but 
simply  difficult  by  the  Samaritan  party:  see  on  iv.  4.  To  what 
are  we  to  ascribe  this  fresh  interest  in  the  Temple  ?  Probabl}', 
as  Meyer  points  out  ^,  it  is  to  the  expectation  which  had  arisen 
that  the  Messianic  time  was  dawning.  Many  of  the  signs 
spoken  of  by  the  older  prophets  had  shown  themselves.  The 
Persian  kingdom  at  the  accession  of  Darius  (521)  was  torn 
asunder  by  internal  dissensions,  its  very  existence  being  en- 
dangered by  the  defection  of  subject  countries,  such  as  Assyria, 
Armenia,  Babylon,  Media,  Parthia,  and  especially  Susiana,  which 
almost  succeeded  in  regaining  its  independence.  All  this  seemed 
to  portend  a  still  greater  shaking  of  the  nations,  presaging  the 
fall  of  Persia  and  the  setting  up  of  the  Messianic  kingdom 
with  Zerubbabel  as  king  (see  Hag.  ii.  23,  Zech.  vi.  8-13,  and 
Driver's  notes  in  Century  Bible).  The  celestial  signs  of  the 
downfall  of  Persia  resemble  those  which  were  to  precede  that 
of  Babylon  (Isa.  xiii.  10,  13;  cf.  Amos  v.  18;  Ezek.  xxxii.  7  f .  ; 
and  Joel  ii.  27).  Sellin  -  has  tried  to  prove  that  a  Messianic 
kingdom  was  actually  established  in  Judaea  with  Zerubbabel 
for  king,  but  that  this  part  of  the  province  was  reconquered, 
Zerubbabel  being  put  to  death.  Winckler  holds  a  similar 
position.  To  both  the  suffering  servant  in  Isa.  liii  is  Zerubbabel,  who 
suffered  at  the  hand  of  the  Persian  government  for  the  good  of  the 
people.  Much  of  this  is  mere  speculation  capable  of  neither  proof 
nor  disproof.  But  it  is  probable  that  both  Haggai  and  Zechariah 
were  prompted  in  their  preaching  by  a  belief  that  the  Messiah  was 
about  to  make  His  appearance  ;  that  the  Temple  was  therefore  to 
be  built  for  His  reception,  so  that  all  the  nations  of  the  earth  might 
gather  therein  to  worship  the  one  true  God  (see  Isa.  ii.  2-4,  &c.). 
1.  (the  prophets,  Haggai)  the  prophet:  though  apparently 
unnecessary  after  what  precedes,  its  correctness  is  supported 
by  vi.  14,  Hag.  i.  i.  'Haggai  the  prophet'  seems  one  whole 
clause,  not  to  be  broken  up.  Haggai  (see  his  book)  reproves  the 
people  for  their  delay  in  going  on  with  the  work  of  building  the 
Temple.  His  prophecies  were  uttered  in  the  second  year  of  Darius 
(520);  that  Darius  Hystaspis  (t485)  is  meant  and  not  Darius 
Nothus  (+  404)  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  some  of  the  present 
builders  had  seen  the  Temple  destroyed  in  586 :  see  Hag.  ii.  3. 

Zechariah,  the  son  of  Iddo:  the  word  rendered  'son'  means 
often  descendant  ;  here  it  means  grandson  :  see  Zech.  i.  7, 
'Zechariah  the  prophet,  son  of  Berechiah,  the  son  of  Iddo.'  We 
probably  read  in  Neh.  xii.  4  of  this  Iddo  as  head  of  a  priestly 


'  Geschichte,\\\.  194  ff.;  Entstehung,  i74ff.     So  Driver,  *  Minor 
Prophets*  {Century  Bible),  151  f.  -  Serubbabel. 


EZRA  5.  2.     Ta  95 

the  son  of  Iddo,  prophesied  unto  the  Jews  that  were  in 
Judah  and  Jerusalem ;  in  the  name  of  the  God  of  Israel 
'■^prophesied  they  unto  them.  Then  rose  up  Zerubbabel  2 
the  son  of  Shealtiel,  and  Jeshua  the  son  of  Jozadak,  and 
began  to  build  the  house  of  God  which  is  at  Jerusalem  ; 
and  with  them  were  the  prophets  of  God,  helping  them. 

^  Or,  which  was  upon  them 

family  that  returned  with  Zerubbabel  and  Jeshua  :  and  in 
Neh.  xii.  16  mention  is  made  of  a  '  Zechariah  son  of  Iddo '  as 
head  of  a  priestly  house  in  the  time  of  Nehemiah.  The  latter 
would  be  a  descendant  of  the  prophet.  The  same  names  con- 
stantly recur  in  oriental  genealogical  lists  (Arabic,  Hebrew, 
Samaritan,  &c.). 

In  Zechariah's  genuine  prophecies  (Zech.  i-viii)  there  are  eight 
visions  in  which  that  number  of  difficulties  or  discouragements 
are  severally  disposed  of.  The  prophet  shows  that  the  way 
is  really  open ;  that  with  God's  help  they  could  and  should 
go  forward  with  the  work.  Zechariah's  prophecies  belong  to  the 
years  519-517,  being  dated  in  the  second  and  fourth  year  of  Darius. 

prophesied :  the  Hebrew  verb  in  the  form  which  occurs  here 
means  to  perform  the  part  of  the  nahi  or  prophet,  as  it  is  rendered. 
The  word  nahi  means  probably  first  of  all  a  speaker  ;  then  a 
speaker  on  behalf  of  God,  or  one  commissioned  by  God.  Kuenen 
and  others  give  the  noun  a  passive  sense,  '  one  that  is  stirred  up ' 
or  *  inspired  to  speak.'  In  any  case  the  idea  of  prediction  is  not 
in  the  word  itself,  though  one  that  speaks  by  the  authority  or 
inspiration  of  God  will  sometimes  speak  of  the  future,  especially 
when  warning  men  of  the  consequence  of  sin. 

the  Jews  ...  in  Judah.  and  Jerusalem :  i.  e.  those  in  the 
country  parts  of  Judah  and  in  Jerusalem,  in  contrast  with  those 
remaining  in  Babylon  and  other  places  out  of  Palestine. 

in  the  name,  &c.  :  render,  as  in  the  R.Vm.,  'in  the  name  of 
the  God  of  Israel  who  was  over  them.' 

2.  Zerubbabel:  see  on  i.  8  and  ii.  2  and  ver.  i  f. 
Jeshua :  see  on  ii.  2. 

begran  to  build:  see  on  iii.  8-13.  The  former  beginning 
was  so  slight,  and  what  was  done  so  injured  in  the  intervening 
sixteen  years,  that  a  new  beginning  had  to  be  made. 

Here  and  in  iii.  8  Zerubbabel  and  Jeshua  are  the  leaders  in 
building.  In  verses  5,  9  and  in  vi.  7,  8,  14,  the  elders  alone  are 
mentioned.  Bertholet  thinks  the  difference  due  to  different 
sources,  but  why?  Were  they  not  elders  (see  ii.  2),  and  did 
they  not  act  in  the  name  of  the  other  elders  ?  And  did  not  elegance 
then  as  now  suggest  variety  of  expression  as  a  desirable  thing  ? 


96  EZRA  5.  3H.     T^ 

3  At  the  same  time  came  to  them  Tattenai,  the  governor 
beyond  the  river,  and  Shethar-bozenai,  and  their  com- 
panions,   and  said   thus   unto   them.   Who  gave  you  a 

4  decree  to  build  this  house,  and  to  finish  this  wall  ?   ^  Then 

*  Or,  Then  spake  we  unto  them  after  this  manner.  What,  said 
they,  are  the  names  of  the  men  that  make  this  building?  Or, 
according  to  some  ancient  versions,  Then  spake  they  unto  them  6-c. 
See  ver.  lo. 

V.  3  vi.  12,  see  on  vi.  7  (i  Esd.  vi,  3-34).  Unsuccessful  opposition 
of  the  Persian  officials  and  their  allies  to  the  building  of  the  Temple. 

V.  3-5.  Persian  officials  make  inquiries  of  the  builders. 

3.  Tattenai:  called  Sisinnes  in  i  Esd.  vi.  3  and  in  Joseph. 
Antiq.  xi.  1.3.  In  the  Cuneiform  contract  tablets  of  the  first  and 
third  years  of  Darius  Hystaspis  (Nos.  27  and  82)  mention  is 
made  of  an  Ustannai,  governor  or  satrap  of  Transpotamia  :  lie 
is  described  in  Assyrian  word  for  word  as  here  in  Aramaic 
[lit.  governor  of  the  (province)  across  the  river].  That  the  same 
individual  is  meant  is  hardly  open  to  doubt.  Bruno  Meissner  who 
was  the  first  to  point  out  this  identification  thinks  that  here  and 
vi.  6,  where  alone  it  occurs  in  the  O.  T.,  we  should  read  'Ustannai,' 
from  which  Tattenai  could  easily  arise. 

There  is  surely  no  difficulty,  though  Wellhausen  and  others  say 
there  is  an  insuperable  one,  in  thinking  of  Tattenai  on  becoming 
satrap  of  the  whole  of  Transpotamia  as  ignorant  of  an  edict  issued 
sixteen  years  before  by  Cyrus.  In  comparison  with  the  whole 
province  he  administered,  Palestine  was  a  mere  corner,  and  its 
people  of  no  great  consequence  politically.  It  may  of  course  be 
that,  as  Meyer  and  Bertholet  conjecture,  the  satrap  feigned  igno- 
rance only,  so  that  he  might  throw  in  his  influence  with  that  of  the 
Samaritans  against  the  project  which  the  Jews  had  in  hand.  It 
is  likely  that  he  had  been  newly  appointed,  and  that  he  was  now 
on  a  tour  of  inspection  through  his  satrapy. 

governor :  here,  as  in  ver.  6,  vi.  6,  and  Neh.  iii.  7,  in  the 
sense  of  satrap  (see  on  viii.  36),  Generally  the  word  found  here 
^pekhali)  denotes  a  ruler  of  a  sub-satrapy  or  province  (Samaria, 
Judah,  &c.). 

Shethar-bozenai:  probably  chief  secretary  to  Tattenai,  as 
Shimshai  to  Rehum  (iv.  8".  Read  (with  Meyer  and  Andreas- 
Marti)  '  Mithra-bozenai '  ^  tin  Persian)  '■  Mithra  is  Saviour' :  m  and 
sh  are  much  alike,  and  vowels  are  not  written  in  ancient  Hebrew. 
wall :  so  Syr.  and  Vulg.  :  see  also  v.  9.  This  rendering  is 
supported  by  the  cognate  languages  (Assyrian,  &c.),  and  also 
by  the  sense  required  for  the  word  in  the  other  known  place 
of  its  occurrence  (the  Sachau  Aramaic  Papyri  I,  line  11),  'They 


EZRA  5.  5-S,    Ta  97 

spake  we  unto  them  after  this  manner,  What  are  the  names 
of  the  men  that  make  this  building  ?    But  the  eye  of  their  5 
God  was  upon  the  elders  of  the  Jews,  and  they  did  not  make 
them  cease,  till  the  matter  should  come  to  Darius,  and 
then  a  answer  should  be  returned  by  letter  concerning  it. 

The  copy  of  the  letter  that  Tattenai,  the  governor  be-  6 
yond  the  river,  and  Shethar-bozenai,  and  his  companions 
the  Apharsachites,  which  were  beyond  the  river,  sent  unto 
Darius  the  king  :  they  sent  a  letter  unto  him,  wherein  was  7 
written  thus ;  Unto  Darius  the  king,  all  peace.     Be  it  8 

*  Or,  they  returned  answer 

destroyed  the  temple  .  .  .  the  stone  pillars  .  .  .  stone  gates,  doors, 
roof  and  the  panelling  of  the  wall'  Nikel,  Haupt,  Bertholet, 
&c.,  translate  'sanctuary,'  and  support  this  by  another  Assyrian 
word  {ashrti),  which  however  means  '  place,'  *  position,'  and  by 
the  supposed  parallelism  with  'house,'  though  Assyrian  ashirtu 
does  mean  '  Temple.' 

4.  (Then  spake)  we :  read  (with  LXX,  Syr.)  *  they,*  i.  e. 
Tattenai,  &c.,  'spake  unto  them'  (Zerubbabel,  &c.)  'after  this 
manner,'  &c.  If  we  follow  the  M.  T.  we  must  (with  Meyer) 
regard  the  words  '  Then  spake  we '  as  taken  verbatim  from  the 
satrap's  report. 

5.  Tattenai  gave  no  orders  that  the  work  should  be  suspended 
pending  the  inquiry  to  be  made.  The  answer  could  not  reach 
Jerusalem  from  Susa  before  some  four  or  five  months  had  passed 
by.  That  during  these  months  the  building  was  allowed  to  go 
on  is  regarded  as  a  sure  sign  that  God's  watchful  eye  was  upon 
the  work  and  the  workers.     See  Dan.  xi.  12. 

elders :  see  on  ver.  2. 

V.  6-VI.  12.  The  Correspondence  wtth  Darius  (i  Esd.  vi). 
V.  6-17.   The  letter  sent  to  Darius  by  Tattenai,  &c. 

6.  the  Apharsachites :  see  on  iv.  9  f.  Render  '  the  Persian 
(officials),'  i.e.  those  in  iv.  9  called  'judges'  (R.  Y»  'Dinaites') 
and  '  tarpelites '  (an  unexplained  official  name). 

beyond  the  river:  render  'in  Transpotamia,'  and  see  p.  87. 

7.  letter:  here  the  word  so  translated  {pithgama)  is  of  Persian 
origin.  In  iv.  17  it  is  rendered  'answer,'  in  vi.  11  'word.'  The 
term  in  ver.  6  translated  'letter'  {igarta)  is  Aramaic. 

all  peace  :  the  Aramaic  and  the  cognate  Hebrew,  Arabic, 
&c.,  words,  too  narrowly  rendered  '  peace,'  include  in  their  mean- 
ing all  the  elements  of  well-being,  the  idea  of  completeness  being 

H 


98  EZRA  5.  9-1 1.     T^ 

known  unto  the  king,  that  we  went  into  the  province  of 
Judah,  to  the  house  of  the  great  God,  which  is  builded 
with  great  stones,  and  timber  is  laid  in  the  walls,  and  this 
work  goeth  on  with  diligence  and  prospereth  in  their 
9  hands.  Then  asked  we  those  elders,  and  said  unto 
them  thus.  Who  gave  you  a  decree  to  build  this  house, 

10  and  to  finish  this  wall  ?     We  asked  them  their  names 
also,  to  certify  thee,  that  we  might  write  the  names  of  the 

11  men  that  were  at  the  head  of  them.  .  And  thus  they 

inherent  in  the  root.  It  is  used  as  a  form  of  greeting  in  all  the 
Semitic  languages,  and  also  in  several  of  the  languages  of  India. 
See  on  Ps.  cxix.  165  {Cenhoy  Bible).  The  addition  of  'all' 
strengthens  the  greeting.  .  . 

8.  tlie  great  God:  Tattenai,  &c.,  speak  in  the  language  of  the 
Jews.  Similarly  Cyrus  calls  Marduk,  the  principal  Babylonian 
deity,  'the  great  Lord,'  though  not  himself  a  Marduk  worshipper. 
Luc.  and  i  Esd.  vi.  9  attach  the  adjective  'great'  to  'house'  and 
not  to  God  (Lord)  J  the  Aramaic  original  allows,  though  does  not 
require,  this. 

great  stones :  lit.  '  stones  of  rolling,'  i.  e.  stones  too  large  to 
be  carried,  and  having  therefore  to  be  rolled.  Some  of  the  stones 
in  the  western  wall  of  the  Temple  at  Jerusalem  which  are  still  in 
situ  are  twent3'-six  feet  long,  six  feet  high,  and  seven  feet  broad. 
Amid  the  ruined  temples  of  Baalbek  there  are  stones  still  larger. 
The  renderings  of  the  LXX  ('chosen  stones')  and  of  the  Lite. 
and  I  Esd.  vi.  9  ('polished  costly  stones')  are  due  to  a  misunder- 
standing of  the  M.  T.  rather  than  to  a  different  reading.  In 
I  Kings  V.  31  the  expression  is  'great  stones,'  which  perhaps 
should  be  read  here  ;  the  difference  in  the  Hebrew  is  very  slight. 

timber  is  laid,  &c.  :  i.  e.  wooden  beams  were  set  in  the 
walls  to  support  floors  and  ceiling.  Siegfried,  however,  thinks  the 
meaning  to  be  that  the  walls  were  covered  with  wood  panelling, 
but  this  would  indicate  too  advanced  a  stage  of  the  building. 

with,  diligence :  the  original  word  is  Persian  and  means 
*  with  care  and  diligence.' 

9.  elders :  see  on  ver.  2.  wall :  see  on  ver.  3. 

10.  names:  for  the  names  of  the  elders  see  ii.  2. 

that  were  at  the  head  of  them :  render  '  that  were  their 
leaders'  (or  'chiefs'),  i.e.  in  the  building.  The  word  rendered 
'  head '  is  plural  (though  somewhat  irregularly  written),  and  the 
preposition  {beth  essentiae  of  the  grammars)  one  which  often 
introduces  the  predicate. 

In  verses  11- 16  we  have  the  answer  whith  the  Jews  are  said 


EZRA  5.  12,  13.     Ta  99 

returned  us  answer,  saying,  We  are  the  servants  of  the 
God  of  heaven  and  earth,  and  build  the  house  that  was 
builded  these  many  years  ago,  which  a  great  king  of 
Israel  builded  and  finished.  But  *  after  that  our  fathers  12 
had  provoked  the  God  of  heaven  unto  wrath,  he  gave 
them  into  the  hand  of  Nebuchadnezzar  king  of  Babylon, 
the  Chaldean,  who  destroyed  this  house,  and  carried  the 
people  away  into  Babylon.  But  in  the  first  year  of  13 
Cyrus  king  of  Babylon,  Cyrus  the  king  made  a  decree  to 

*  Or,  because  that 

to  have  given  to  Tattenai,  &c.  We  might  have  expected  this 
answer  immediately  after  ver.  4. 

11.  We  are  tlie  servants  of  tlie  God  of  heaven  and  earth: 
therefore  of  the  same  God  w^hom  the  Persians  professed  to 
acknowledge.  It  is  strange  to  find  Stade '  speaking  of  these 
words  as  unUkely  to  be  uttered  by  Persians,  for  they  are  quoted 
as  spoken  by  Jews.     But  see  on  ver.  8  and  on  vii.  21. 

these  many  years  ago :  i.  e.  nearly  500  years  before  the 
reign  of  Darius. 

a  great  king :  i.  e.  Solomon. 

12.  Render  '  Nevertheless  after  our  fathers  provoked,'  «Scc. 
after  that :  the  Aramaic  words  are  identical  with  those  at  the 

commencement  of  iv.  23,  translated  by  one  English  word  'when.' 
Though  the  expression  is  temporal  not  (as  R.  V.,  Bertheau- 
Ryssel,  Ryle)  causal,  yet  it  is  implied  that  the  destruction  of 
the  Temple  by  Nebuchadnezzar  came  as  a  punishment  for  the 
sin  of  their  fathers  in  angering  God  :  it  was  not  that  God  could 
not  preserve  it  if  He  would. 

Nebuchadnezzar  king  of  Babylon,  the  Chaldean :  the 
Chaldeans  were  strictly  a  people  inhabiting  a  country  (Assyrian 
Kaldd)  south-east  of  Babylonia  on  what  was  then  the  sea-coast. 
They  were  conquered  by  Nabopolassar,  King  of  Babylon  (d.  605), 
and  thenceforward  Babylonian  and  Chaldean  meant  much  the  same. 
Nebuchadnezzarwas  probably  by  descent  aChaldean.  The  Chaldean 
language,  though  Semitic,  is  to  be  carefully  distinguished  from  the 
Western  or  Biblical  Aramaic,  often  inaccurately  called  '  Chaldee.' 
The  latter  is  the  language  of  the  present  chapter ;  the  former 
closely  resembles  Babylonian,  though  without  the  cuneiform  script. 

13.  Cyrus  king  of  Babylon  :  he  is  so  called  in  at  least 
eleven  undoubted  cuneiform  passages  (see  ZDMG.  51,  p.  663). 
Artaxerxes  is  so  described  in  Neh.  xiii,  6,  and  in  vi.  aa  Darius  is 
called  King  of  Assyria. 

^  Geschichte,  ii.  122  (note). 
H    2 


loo  EZRA  5.  14-17.     Ta 

14  build  this  house  of  God.  And  the  gold  and  silver  ves- 
sels also  of  the  house  of  God,  which  Nebuchadnezzar 
took  out  of  the  temple  that  was  in  Jerusalem,  and 
brought  them  into  the  temple  of  Babylon,  those  did 
Cyrus  the  king  take  out  of  the  temple  of  Baoylon,  and 
they  were  delivered  unto  one  whose  name  was  Sheshbaz- 

15  zar,  whom  he  had  made  governor  ;  and  he  said  unto  him, 
Take  these  vessels,  go,  put  them  in  the  temple  that  is  in 
Jerusalem,  and  let  the  house  of  God  be  builded  in  its 

16  place.  Then  came  the  same  Sheshbazzar,  and  laid  the 
foundations  of  the  house  of  God  which  is  in  Jerusalem : 
and  since  that  time  even  until  now  hath  it  been  in  build- 

17  ing,  and  yet  it  is  not  completed.  Now  therefore,  if  it 
seem  good  to  the  king,  let  there  be  search  made  in  the 
king's  treasure  house,  which  is  there  at  Babylon,  whether 
it  be  so,  that  a  decree  was  made  of  Cyrus  the  king  to 

14.  srold  and  silver  vessels:  see  on  i.  6-1 1. 

into  the  temple  of  Babylon :  read  (with  Luc,  i  Esd.  v.  18) 
'  into  his  own  temple,'  i.  e.  the  temple  of  Marduk. 

Cyras  the  king- :  see  on  i.  i. 

Sheshbazzar:  see  on  i.  8.  Had  he  been  identical  with 
Zerubbabel,  the  latter  and  his  fellow  elders  (see  ver.  9)  could  hardly 
have  failed  in  the  reply  to  make  this  point  clear.  Cyrus's  com- 
mission came  to  Sheshbazzar — so  it  appears  here  and  in  i.  8 — and 
not  to  Zerubbabel. 

15.  in  its  place  :  see  on  iii.  3. 

16.  Though  Sheshbazzar,  the  Babylonian,  laid  the  first  founda- 
tion of  the  Temple  the  work  had  to  be  done  over  again  by 
Zerubbabel,  the  Jew,  and  those  with  him :  see  iii.  10  and  on 
iii.  8-13  and  v.  2. 

and  since  that  time,  &c.  :  these  words  do  not  imply  that 
there  had  been  an  off-and-on  building  of  the  Temple  from  the  time 
its  first  foundation  was  laid.  The  building  once  begun  can  be 
spoken  of  as  going  on  until  it  is  completed  :  see  on  ver.  2. 

17.  the  king's  treasure  house:  that  part  of  the  royal  palace 
at  Babylon  in  which  gold,  silver,  and  state  documents  were  kept. 
In  1850  Henry  Layard  discovered  at  Koyunjik,  the  ancient 
Nineveh,  a  part  of  the  royal  palace  which  had  been  used  exclusively 
for  storing  the  precious  metals,  documents  (baked  clay  tablets), 
&c.  {Nineveh  and  Babylon,  p.  345).     See  on  i.  8  and  vii.  21. 


EZRA  5.   17—6.   I.     Ta  101 

build  this  house  of  God  at  Jerusalem,  and  let  the  king 
send  his  pleasure  to  us  concerning  this  matter. 

Then  Darius  the  king  made  a  decree,  and  search  was  6 

VI.  I-I2  (i  Esd.  vi.  23-34). 

As  a  result  of  the  investigation  Darius  decrees  that  the  Jews 
be  allowed  and  aided  to  complete  the  building  of  the  Temple. 

The  objections  to  the  historicity  of  this  section  have  been  many 
and  various,  most  of  them  however,  in  the  light  of  recent  research, 
having  little  or  no  weight. 

1.  Kosters,  Graetz,  and  others  have  seen  a  contradiction 
between  verses  i  and  2.  We  are  told  (ver.  i)  that  the  search 
was  made  in  Babylon  for  Cyrus's  edict,  but  that  (ver.  2)  it  was 
actually  found  at  Achmetha  (Ecbatana).  Are  we,  however,  sure  of  a 
contradiction  here  ?  According  to  Spiegel  {Eran,  iii.  259),  followed 
by  Marquart^,  Bertholet^,  and  JampeP,  Persians  had  archives  in 
all  the  cities  in  which  they  resided — Susa,  Babylon,  Persepolis, 
Pasagarda,  and  Ecbatana — and  they  were  frequently  moved  from 
one  city  to  another.  Ferdinand  Justi^  mentions  edicts  found  at 
Ecbatana  in  different  languages,  all  spoken  by  peoples  subject  to 
Persia.  We  must  think  therefore  of  this  edict  as  being  first 
sought  for  in  Babylon  and  at  length  found  at  Ecbatana.  Had 
a  forger  been  at  work  he  would  have  written  in  ver.  2  either 
Babylon  or  Susa. 

Kent's  conjecture  that  in  ver.  i  we  should  read  *  from  Babylon' 
(see  below  on  ver.  i)  implies  a  very  slight  change  in  the  Hebrew 
and  removes  the  difficulty  noticed  above.  Torrey*  understands 
by  the  Heb.  Babel  here  '  Babylonia,'  a  term  wide  enough  (he  says, 
though  inaccurately)  to  include  Ecbatana. 

2.  A  difficulty  is  seen  by  Kosters  and  others  in  the  extraordinary 
generosity  displayed  by  Darius,  a  generosity  transcending  that 
ascribed  to  Cyrus. 

It  is  said  that  Haggai  and  Zechariah  could  not  have  complained 
of  the  poverty  of  the  people  if  they  had  known  of  such  gifts  from 
the  Persian  king. 

In  reply  note  (i)  that  at  a  later  time  Artaxerxes  promises  Ezra 
even  more  for  the  support  of  Jewish  worship  :  see  vii.  12-26. 

(2)  It  may  be  taken  for  granted  that  the  two  prophets  named 
make  their  complaints  either  before  or  soon  after  the  rebuilding 
had  been  begun  :  see  Hag.  ii.  3  ;  Zech.  i.  7,  iv.  7-10.  We  may 
assume  that  the  work  lasted  some  four  or  five  years.  When  Tattenai 

^  Fundamenta,  p.  50.       ^  Com.  24.       ^  Wiederherstellung,  102. 
*  Geschichte  des  alien  Persien,  43.  ^  AJSL.  xxiv.  221  n. 


102  EZRA  6.     Ta 

and  his  companions  appear  on  the  scene  the  work  had  been  pro- 
bably already  resumed. 

(31  There  is  abundant  evidence  in  the  inscriptions  that  Darius 
Hystaspis  and  his  successors  interested  themselves  more  in 
building  or  helping  to  build  temples  consecrated  to  other  gods 
than  their  own  (Ahura-Mazda),  see  Jampel,  Wiederherstellung, 
93flf.  We  know  from  the  ascertained  tenets  of  Mazdaism  and 
from  the  actual  practice  of  Mazdaists  of  the  time  that  such  tolera- 
tion in  religious  matters  as  the  books  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  imply 
is  exactly  what  beforehand  we  might  have  expected.  In  the 
Gadatas  inscription  1,  discovered  in  1889,  we  have  a  message  sent 
by  this  very  Darius  to  Gadatas,  Persian  governor  at  Magnesia, 
Asia  Minor,  in  which  the  king  rebukes  this  official  for  not  having 
shown  proper  respect  to  the  worshippers  of  Apollo,  and  especially 
for  having  made  the  priests  of  this  god  pay  taxes  like  other 
people.  He  says  that  this  deity  has  spoken  to  the  Persians  as 
well  as  to  the  Greeks.     See  p.  40. 

An  inscription  in  the  still  largely  preserved  Egyptian  temple 
at  Edfu  acknowledges  gifts  by  this  Darius  towards  the  expenses 
of  the  temple  2. 

In  the  Aramaic  papyri  recently  edited  by  Eduard  Sachau^ 
it  is  recorded  that  the  Temple  of  Yahu  at  Yeb  (Elephantine), 
which  had  existed  in  the  days  of  the  (ancient)  kings  of  Egypt, 
had  been  spared  by  Camb3'ses,  King  of  Persia,  though  he  did 
not  spare  the  temples  of  the  native  Egyptians,  probably  because 
these  temples  helped  to  develop  the  spirit  of  national  independence. 
We  have  here  an  illustration  of  the  special  favour  shown  by  the 
early  Persian  kings  to  Yahwism  or  the  religion  of  Jehovah,  no 
doubt  in  part  because  their  own  religion  was  closely  allied  to  it. 

3.  Marquart  objects  *  that  Palestine  was  tqo  insignificant  a  part 
of  the  Persian  dominions  to  receive  so  much  consideration.  But 
it  must  be  remembered  that,  though  in  itself  small,  Palestine  was 
the  bridge  between  Egypt  and  Babylon,  and  that  as  such  it  was 
of  the  utmost  importance  to  Persia  as  a  base  from  which  to  attack 
either  of  these  powers.  It  should  be  also  borne  in  mind  that 
if  Palestine  were  a  smaller  country  than,  say,  Egypt,  Darius  did 
more  on  behalf  of  the  religion  of  Egypt  than  for  that  of  Palestine. 

Parallels  to  the  procedure  of  Darius  in  reference  to  older  edicts 
as  a  guide  for  his  own  conduct  are  very  plentiful  in  ancient 
history.  In  the  Tel-el-Amarna  tablets  there  are  several  such 
references.      Winckler^  points  out  that  letters  belonging  to  the 

*  See  Meyer,  Geschichte,  iii.  §§  26,  34,  57.  The  inscription  is 
given  complete  (in  German)  by  Bertholet,  Com.,  p.  26,  from  Bulletin 
de  Correspondance  Hellinique,  xiii.  529. 

^  Lepsius,  Abhandlungen  der  Berliner  Acadetnie,  1875. 
^  Berlin,  1907,  see  p.  10. 

♦  Fundamenta,  48  f.  ^  KATP\  p.  193. 


EZRA  6.  2,  3.     T^  103 

made  in  the  house  of  the  ^^  archives,  where  the  treasures 
were   laid   up   in   Babylon.     And  there  was   found   at  a 
^  Achmetha,  in  the  palace  that  is  in  the  province  of  Media, 
a  roll,  and  therein  was  thus  written  for  a  record.     In  the  3 
first  year  of  Cyrus  the  king,  Cyrus  the  king  made  a  de- 
cree ;  Concerning  the  house  of  God  at  Jerusalem,  let  the 

*  Aram,  books.  ^  That  is,  Ecbatatia. 

reign  of  Amenophis  III,  King  of  Egypt  f^fl.  cir.  1500  B.C.), 
are  first  heard  of  in  the  reign  of  his  successor,  who  quotes 
them  as  supplying  precedents  or  authority  for  his  own  actions. 
See  further  Jampel,  IViederherstellung,  104  f. 

VI.  1-5.   The  Investigation  and  its  Result. 

1.  Render,  'Then  Darius  the  king  made  a  decree  and  the 
archives  in  the  treasure  house  which  (archives')  had  been  brought 
(to  Ecbatana)  from  Babylon  were  searched.'  The  above  transla- 
tion involves  only  a  rearrangement  of  the  words  with  but  one 
slight  exception,  the  change  of  'in'  to  'from,'  i.e.  the  substitu- 
tion of  one  letter  for  another  greatly  resembling  it  in  the  old 
Hebrew  and  Aramaic  script.  The  changes  are  supported  by  a 
comparison  of  iv.  27  (treasure  house)  and  of  i  Esd.  vi.  23.  In  the 
original  the  verbs  are  active,  not  passive,  according  to  a  well- 
known  Semitic  idiom  ('  indefinite  subject')  :  see  on  x.  17. 

2.  Achmetha:  i.  e.  the  Ecbatana  of  the  Greek  writers,  the 
capital  of  Media  and  the  summer  residence  of  the  ancient  Persian 
kings.  Its  present  name  is  Hamadan.  See  Judith  i.  i  ff. ;  2  Mace. 
ix.  3 ;  Tob.  iii.  7,  vi.  7. 

roll :  i.  e.  a  clay  tablet  such  as  may  be  seen  in  the  British 
Museum  :  so  Marquart  1,  Bertholet,  Jahn,  &c.  No  word  for  this 
exists  in  Aramaic  or  Hebrew,  so  that  the  nearest  equivalent  in 
these  languages  has  to  be  used.  Libraries  of  such  tablets  have  been 
found  at  Koyunjik  (Nineveh)  and  elsewhere.  Ktesias,  however, 
says  (according  to  Sayce)  that  Persian  official  documents  were 
written  on  parchment  rolls  which  he  had  seen :  see  p.  168. 

and  therein,  &c.  :  render  'and  therein  was  thus  written; 
Memorandum  :  In  the  first  year  of  Cyrus  the  king,'  &c.  The 
word  rendered  a  record  denotes  *  take  notice  '  or  '  memorandum,' 
and  refers  to  what  follows.  We  have  an  exact  parallel  in  the 
Sachau  Aramaic  papyri,  iii. 

3.  made  a  decree,  &c. :  render 'made  a  decree  as  regards  the  house 
of  God  at  Jerusalem  (which  was  as  follows) :  Let  the  house  be  built 
where  they  offer  sacrifices  and  bring  offerings  made  by  fire,  its  height 
sixty  cubits,  its  breadth  sixty  cubits'  (nothing  anent  the  length). 

Concerning-:  join  with  the  preceding  and  punctuate  as  above  : 

^  Funda?nenta,  p.  48. 


104  EZRA  6.  4.    Ta 

house  be  builded,  the  place  where  they  offer  sacrifices, 

and  let  the  foundations  thereof  be  strongly  laid;  the  height 

thereof  threescore  cubits,  and  the  breadth  thereof  three- 

4  score  cubits ;  with  three  rows  of  great  stones,  and  *  a  row 

*  According  to  the  Sept.,  one  row  of  timber. 

so  LXX,  Marti,  Bertholet,  A.  V,  The  Hebrew  accents  support  the 
arrangement  of  words  in  the  R.V. :  so  Syr.  The  Hebrew  text 
itself  admits  of  either. 

foundations  thereof,  &c.  The  M.  T.  can  mean  only  '  its  founda- 
tions are  borne '  (carried)  or  '  bear  *  (carry),  which  yields  no  suitable 
meaning.  Far  better  make  a  trivial  change  in  the  vowels,  which  are 
no  part  of  the  original  text,  and  render  as  above  :  '  and  (where  they) 
bring  offerings  made  by  fire.'  So  Haupt  (Guthe,  SBOT.),  Bertholet, 
Fried.  Delitzsch,  Kent,  Cf.  i  Esd.  iv.  24,  *  where  they  sacrifice 
with  continual  fire.'  Fire  offerings  included  the  burnt  offerings, 
mainly  those  of  animals  (Lev.  i.  9,  &c.),  but  also  meal  offerings  (Lev. 
ii.  8,  &c.),  the  sacred  bread  and  frankincense  (Lev.  xxiv.  7,  9,  «&c.). 
the  heigrht  . . .  breadth  thereof  threescore  cubits :  nothing 
is  said  about  the  length.  Probably  we  should  read  'length' 
for  'breadth';  in  the  Aramaic  M.T.  there  is  not  much  differ- 
ence. Solomon's  temple  was  sixty  cubits  long  by  twenty  broad, 
and  thirty  high  (see  i  Kings  vi.  2).  But  this  breadth  did  not  include 
the  chambers ;  adding  the  latter  the  breadth  of  Solomon's 
temple  would  be  about  sixty  cubits  (see  DB.  'Temple,'  p.  715*). 
If  we  retain  the  word  height  and  understand  the  figures  to  denote 
actual  measurement,  then  we  must  take  the  height  of  sixty  cubits 
to  refer  to  the  porch  and  not  to  the  house.  In  2  Chron.  iii.  4  it  is  said 
that  the  porch  of  Solomon's  temple  was  120  cubits  high,  which 
would  make  it  more  like  a  tower  than  a  porch.  Josephus,  following 
a  Chron.  iii,  4  and  the  present  passage,  says  that  the  porch  of  Solo- 
mon's temple  was  twice  as  high  as  that  of  Zerubbabel  ^,  but  this 
writer  is  never  critical,  and,  when  numbers  are  concerned,  seldom 
to  be  trusted.  It  must  be  admitted  that  these  figures  constitute  a 
difficulty.  Perhaps  we  should  add  the  length  60  cubits,  and  under- 
stand the  edict  to  denote  Ibe  utmost  limits  to  which  the  building 
could  be  carried — 60  cubits  every  way^ 

We  need  not  be  surprised  at  the  interest  taken  by  Cyrus  in  the 
dimensions  of  the  Temple ;  the  Persian  kings  controlled  the  religious 
as  well  as  other  affairs  of  their  people. 

4.  The  text  is  probably  greatly  shortened,  but  the  meaning 
seems  to  be  that  bounding  the  outer  court   (there  was  but  one 

*  Antiq.  xv.  11.  1. 

'  Sayce  thinks  that  nothing  is  said  about  length  because  the  Semitic 
Temple  was  proportionately  longer  than  it  was  broad. 


EZRA  6.  5,6.     Ta  105 

of  new  timber  :  and  let  the  expenses  be  given  out  of  the 
king's  house :  and  also  let  the  gold  and  silver  vessels  of  5 
the  house  of  God,  which  Nebuchadnezzar  took  forth  out 
of  the  temple  which  is  at  Jerusalem,  and  brought  unto 
Babylon,  be  restored,  and  brought  again  unto  the  temple 
which  is  at  Jerusalem,  every  one  to  its  place,  and  thou 
shalt  put  them  in  the  house  of  God.  Now  therefore,  6 
Tattenai,  governor  beyond  the  river,  Shethar-bozenai, 
and   ^your  companions   the  Apharsachites,  which  are 

*  Aram,  their. 

court  in  Solomon's  temple)  of  the  Temple  there  was  a  wall  made  of 
three  layers  of  stone,  having  on  the  top  a  layer  of  cedar  planks, 
gable-shaped,  to  allow  the  water  to  escape.   SeeDB.  'Temple,'  702*. 

a  row  of  new  timber  :  read  (with  LXX,  Bertholet,  Siegfried, 
Kent)  'one  row  of  timber'  :  the  Aramaic  for  'new'  and  •one' 
are  almost  identical. 

the  kingr's  house:  i.e.  the  royal  treasure  house.  See  on 
V.  17.  What  is  meant  here,  however,  is  that  part  of  the  ro3'al 
revenue  which  came  from  the  taxes  of  various  kinds  (see  iv.  13,  20, 
vii.  24)  paid  in  Transpotamia  (see  ver.  8).  According  to  ii.  68  (see 
on  and  cf.  Neh.  vii,  70)  some  of  the  heads  of  fathers'  houses 
gave  to  '  the  house  of  God  to  restore  it/  i.  e.  perhaps  towards 
restoring  the  cultus  or  worship  (sacrifices,  &c.)  The  payment 
promised  by  Cjtus  must  have  ceased  or  Tattenai  and  his  companions 
would  have  known  about  it. 

5.  The  M.T.  seems  corrupt,  as  is  suggested  by  the  changes  in 
the  number  and  person  of  the  Aramaic  verbs,  yet  the  general 
sense  is  clear. 

vessels:  see  i.  7. 

and  thou  shalt,  &c. :  the  sudden  change  of  persons  is 
striking  ;  if  the  text  is  retained,  Sheshbazzar  must  be  the  person 
addressed  (see  i.  11).  We  have  probably  only  an  epitome  of  what 
the  compiler  had  before  him,  and  it  seems  not  well  made. 

6-12.  Darius  commands  that  the  Jeivs  be  allowed  to  go  on  with 
the  building^  and  that  financial  help  be  accorded  them. 

The  transition  from  ver.  5  to  ver.  6  is  abrupt.  In  the  original 
document  some  such  words  as  the  following  must  have  stood  : 
*  Finding  that  Cyrus  had  so  decreed,  and  wishing  to  carry  out  the 
king's  undertaking,  Darius  spoke  thus  to  his  Transpotamian  rulers.' 

6.  Tattenai  .  .  .  Shethar-bozenai :  see  on  v.  3. 
Apharsachites :  render  '  Persian  (officials).'   See  on  iv.  9  and 

on  V.  6. 


io6  EZRA  6,  7-9.     T 


7  beyond  the  river,  be  ye  far  from  thence :  let  the  work 
of  this  house  of  God  alone ;  let  the  governor  of  the 
Jews   and  the  elders   of  the  Jews  build  this  house  of 

8  God  in  its  place.  Moreover  I  make  a  decree  what  ye 
shall  do  to  these  elders  of  the  Jews  for  the  building  of 
this  house  of  God  :  that  of  the  king's  goods,  even  of  the 
tribute  beyond  the  river,  expenses  be  given  with  all  dili- 

9  gence  unto  these  men,  that  they  be  not  hindered.  And 
that  which  they  have  need  of,  both  young  bullocks,  and 

beyond  the  river  :  render  '  in  Transpotamia  ' ;  the  expression 
is  a  proper  name.     See  on  iv.  10. 

be  ye  far  from  thence:  i.  e,  hold  your  hands  back  from 
Jerusalem  :  do  not  hinder  the  work  the  Jews  are  doing  at  Jerusalem. 

7.  Here  Zerubbabel  and  the  elders  join  in  directing  the  work. 
In  fact  he  is  an  elder  (see  on  v.  2).  Siegfried,  Bertholet,  &c., 
omit  '  the  governor  of  the  Jews  and  *  from  this  verse.  See  verses 
8,  14,  where  'elders'  alone  occurs. 

8.  The  Persian  king  undertakes  to  provide  the  money,  but  the 
Jews  must  see  to  the  work. 

g-oods  :  the  Aramaic  word  occurs  also  in  vii.  26,  and  means 
*  wealth,  possessions.'  Its  sense  here  is  explained  by  the  word 
tribute.     See  on  ver.  4. 

beyond  the  river :  see  on  iv.  10, 

with  all  diligence.  The  same  word  is  rendered  in  v.  8  (see 
on)  and  in  ver.  12  *  with  diligence.' 

that  they  be  not  hindered  :  this  rendering,  following,  the 
Vulg.  and  depending  on  the  use  of  the  same  verb  in  iv.  21  (cf. 
iv.  23),  is  that  of  Keil,  Oettli,  &c.  We  should,  however,  probably 
render  with  Bertheau,  &c.,  *  So  that  there  be  no  delay  '  :  what  is 
commanded  is  urgent  and  must  be  attended  at  once. 

9.  The  Jews  are  to  be  helped  not  only  in  the  building,  but  also 
in  obtaining  the  materials  for  sacrifice. 

The  materials  for  three  kinds  of  sacrifice  are  mentioned. 

(i)  Burnt  offerings  :  bullocks  (see  below),  rams,  lambs  (see 
ver.  17  and  vii.  17.  (2)  Oblations,  or  vegetable  (meal)  offering: 
wheat  (including  oil  and  salt),  see  below.    (3)  Drink  offering,  wine. 

The  first  kind  were  always  accompanied  by  the  other  two  in 
post-exilic  times :  see  Num.  xxviii  f.  and  cf.  the  ancient  concep- 
tion of  sacrifice  as  a  social  meal  (flesh,  vegetables,  and  wine). 

young-  bullocks:  render  'oxen.'  The  word  rendered  young 
(not  found  in  v.  17)  means  literally  'sons  of,'  and  in  Semitic 
in  such  cases  is  commonly,  as  here,  not  to  be  translated.  Thus 
•sons  of  men  '  (Ps.  cvii.  8,  see  on  in  Century  Bible)  means  simply 


EZRA  6.  10,  II.     Ta  107 

rams,  and   lambs,  for  burnt  offerings   to   the  God   of 

heaven,  wheat,  salt,  wine,  and  oil,  according  to  the  word 

of  the  priests  which  are  at  Jerusalem,  let  it  be  given  them 

day  by  day  without  fail :  that  they  may  offer  sacrifices  of  10 

sweet  savour  unto  the  God  of  heaven,  and  pray  for  the 

life  of  the  king,  and  of  his  sons.     Also  I  have  made  a  1 1 

decree,  that  whosoever  shall  alter  this  word,  let  a  beam  be 

pulled  out  from  his  house,  and  let  him  be  lifted  up  and 

'men':  see  on  ii,  41.  The  noun  translated  'bullocks'  is  that 
which  in  its  Hebrew  form  (shor)  is  translated  '  ox,'  but  which  means 
really  a  head  of  cattle,  a  bull  or  a  cow. 

For  the  law  see  Lev.  iv,  14,  where  translate  *  bull'  or  'bullock,' 
which  latter  has  come  to  have  the  same  meaning. 

the  God  of  heaven :  so  ver.  10,  i.  2,  v.  11  f.,  vii.  12,  23;  and 
the  Sachau  Aramaic  Papyri,  i.  2,  22  f.  and  iii.  3  f. 

wheat :  for  making  the  fine  flour  required  in  the  meal  offer- 
ing :  see  Lev.  ii.  i. 

salt :  used  for  seasoning  the  offering:  see  Lev.  ii.  13. 

wine:  for  the  drink  offering  or  hbation  :  see  Ex.  xxix.  40  ; 
Lev.  xxiii.  13  ;  Joel  i.  9. 

oil:  to  mix  with  the  fine  flour:  see  Lev.  ii.  iff.  Siegfried 
thinks  the  oil  was  poured  forth  as  a  libation,  see  Gen.  xxviii.  18, 
XXXV.  14.      But  wine  is  here  the  drink  offering. 

without  fail:  Aramaic  'without  ceasing,'  i.e.  'without 
intermission.' 

10.  that  they  may  offer :  render  'that  they  may  keep  on  offering.' 
sacrifices  of  sweet  savour  :  one  word  in  the  Aramaic,  what 

is  soothing,  pleasing  to  the  smell  :  see  Gen.  viii.  21.  We  have 
the  full  phrase  in  the  Hebrew  of  Lev.  i.  9,  lit.  '  an  odour  of  what 
is  tranquillizing  to  Yahweh.'  After  the  exile  incense  was 
burnt  on  the  incense-altar,  and  some  think  this  is  here  referred  to. 
and  pray  for  the  life  of  the  king*,  and  of  his  sons :  see  Jer. 
xxix.  7.  Similarly  at  a  later  time  the  Jews  prayed  for  the  Roman 
emperor  (Philo,  Legat.  ad  Gaium,  §  45).  See  further  i.  10-12; 
I  Mace.  vii.  33,  xii.  11  ;  2  Mace.  iii.  35,  xiii.  23,  cf.  the  Sachau 
Aramaic  Papyri,  i.  2f.,  26-28. 

11.  alter:  i.e.  act  contrary  to  the  law,  not  change  it :  cf.  Dan. 
iii.  28.     Perhaps  we  should  with  i  Esdras  read  '  transgress '  {'abar). 

let  a  beam,  &c.  :  the  punishment  meant  is  that  of  impalement, 
a  living  body  being  spiked  per  auum  on  a  pointed  pole  :  see  Num. 
XXV.  4  ;  2  Sam.  xxi.  6,  9,  13,  and  the  note  on  Esther  ii.  23,  Darius 
impaled  3,000  Babylonians  when  he  took  the  city  ^    This  mode  of 

^  Her.  iii.  159. 


io8  EZRA  6.  12-14.     Ta 

fastened  thereon;  and  let  his  house  be  made  a  dung- 

12  hill  for  this  :  and  the  God  that  hath  caused  his  name  to 
dwell  there  overthrow  all  kings  and  peoples,  that  shall 
put  forth  their  hand  to  alter  the  same^  to  destroy  this 
house  of  God  which  is  at  Jerusalem.  I  Darius  have 
made  a  decree ;  let  it  be  done  with  all  diligence. 

13  Then  Tattenai,  the  governor  beyond  the  river,  Shethar- 
bozenai,  and  their  companions,  ^  because  that  Darius  the 

14  king  had  sent,  did  accordingly  with  all  diligence.  And 
the  elders  of  the  Jews  builded  and  prospered,  through 

*  Or,  because  of  that  which  &c. 
punishment  is  frequently  represented  in  the  bas-reliefs  of  the 
Assyrians^,  and  existed  in  Africa  at  least  as  late  as  a. d.  1867'^. 
Crucifixion  (a  Roman  custom)  does  not  seem  to  have  had  vogue 
among  any  Oriental  people.  In  Esther  ix,  14  Haman's  sons  were 
impaled  after  they  had  been  put  to  death  (verses  7-10),  see  below. 
It  must  be  remembered  that  stoning  was  the  capital  punishment 
among  the  Hebrews  (Lev.  xxiv.  14).  The  bodies  of  pei-sons  pre- 
viously put  to  death  were  impaled  as  a  warning  (see  Deut.  xxi. 
22;  Joshua  X.  29 ;  i  Sam.  xxxi.  9  f .  ;  2  Sam.  iv.  12).  Winckler' 
thinks  that  only  dead  persons  were  impaled  :  but  cf.  Num.  xxv.  4, 
where  death  by  impalement  seems  implied. 

a  dting-hill :  see  Dan.  ii.  5  ;  cf.  2  Kings  x.  27.  The  punish- 
ment may  seem  unreasonably  severe,  but  the  Romans  imposed 
a  penalty  no  less  rigorous  for  crossing  the  Temple  precincts  at 
Jerusalem,  even  when  the  offender  happened  to  be  a  Roman 
citizen.     See  Meyer,  Etttstehuyig,  51  f. 

12.  the  God  that  hath  caused  his  name  to  dwell  there:  a 
Deuteronomic  phrase  (see  Deut.  xii.  11,  xiv.  22).  Why  should 
the  king  or  his  principal  secretary  not  be  acquainted  with  the 
phraseology  and  even  with  the  recent  literature  of  the  Jews  ? 

alter  :  see  on  ver.  11. 

with  all  diligrence :   see  on  v.  8  and  ver.  8. 
13-18.   Completion  and  dedication  of  the  Temple. 
13-15-  Completion  of  the  Temple. 

13.  Tattenai,  Shethar-hozenai :  see  on  v.  3. 
beyond  the  river  :  see  on  iv.  10. 

because  that,  &c.  :  render  *did  exactly  according  to  the 
command  which  Darius  the  king  had  sent.' 

14.  elders  :  see  on  v.  2. 

*  See  The  Bronze  Gates  of  Balatsiat  (850  B.C.),  part  iv.       ^  ZcJckler, 

The  Cross  of  Christ,  p.  62  f.  ^  Die  Gesetze  Hammurabi,  p.  44. 


EZRA  6.  15,  16.     Ta  109 

the  prophesying  of  Haggai  the  prophet  and  Zechariah 
the  son  of  Iddo.  And  they  builded  and  finished  it, 
according  to  the  commandment  of  the  God  of  Israel, 
and  according  to  the  decree  of  Cyrus,  and  Darius,  and 
Artaxerxes  king  of  Persia.  And  this  house  was  finished  15 
on  the  third  day  of  the  month  Adar,  which  was  in  the 
sixth  year  of  the  reign  of  Darius  the  king.  And  the  16 
children  of  Israel,  the  priests  and  the  Levites,  and  the 
rest  of  the  children  of  the  captivity,  kept  the  dedication 

through  the  prophesying-  of  Haggai  .   .  .  and  Zechariah : 

according  to  v.  i  these  prophets  caused  the  Jews  to  set  about  the 
building  of  the  Temple.  Here  we  are  told  that  they  remained  along- 
sidethebuilders  urging  and  encouraging  them  to  go  on  with  the  work. 
We  have  no  record  of  the  words  uttered  by  these  prophets  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  four(ver.  15)  years  covered  by  theTemple  building, 
neither  have  we  of  much  which  other  prophets  (Isaiah,  &c.)  said. 
Artaxerxes  :  the  clause  containing  this  name  is  an  obvious 
interpolation.  This  king  reigned  from  465  to  423,  and  could  have 
had  nothing  to  do  with  the  rebuilding  of  the  Temple  completed  in 
515.  The  addition  is  due  probably  to  the  marginal  note  of  an 
ignorant  transcriber  or  to  the  influence  of  iv.  7  f.  (see  on),  regarded 
as  part  of  the  account  of  the  building  of  the  Temple.  Josephus 
has  in  this  connexion  the  name  Cambyses  ^,  which  is  yet  more 
unlikely  to  be  correct.  Here  the  Jewish  historian  departs  from 
his  great  source,  i  Esdras,  which  throughout  this  history  is  very 
confused  and  confusing. 

15.  Adar  :  the  twelfth  month  =  our  February-March  :  see  on  x. 
9, 17.  According  to  the  present  verse  the  Temple  was  completed  on 
the  third  day  of  Adar  in  the  year  515.  i  Esd.  xii.  5,  however,  followed 
by  Josephus'',  has  the  twenty-third  day,  and  Bertholet  adopts  this, 
holding  that  in  the  Hebrew  the  numeral  20  has  fallen  out. 

16-18.  Dedication  of  the  Temple.  Bertholet  thinks  that  the 
Chronicler  here  resumes  his  narrative.  Instead  of  the  Jews  and 
their  elders  we  have  now  Israel,  priests,  &c.  We  have  here,  how- 
ever, to  do  with  a  religious  function,  and  one  might  expect  function- 
aries peculiarly  religious  to  appear  on  the  scene.  Besides,  where 
else  does  the  Chronicler  write  in  Aramaic  ?  Assuming  the  existence 
of  Temple  records,  they  would  be  of  different  dates  and  styles. 

16.  children  of  Israel :  render  '  Israelites,'  and  see  on  ii.  41. 
children  of  the  captivity  :  render  *  Exiles'  :  see  on  iv.  i. 
the  dedication  :    we   must  not  think   here  of  the  Feast  of 

^   Antiq.  xi.  4.  4.  -  Ibid,  xi.  4.  7. 


no  EZRA  6.  17,  18.     Ta 

17  of  this  house  of  God  with  joy.  And  they  offered  at  the 
dedication  of  this  house  of  God  an  hundred  bullocks,  two 
hundred  rams,  four  hundred  lambs ;  and  for  a  sin  offer- 
ing  for  all   Israel,    twelve   he-goats,   according    to   the 

18  number  of  the  tribes  of  Israel.     And  they  set  the  priests 

Dedication  established  about  165  b.  c.  to  commemorate  the  purifi- 
cation and  re-dedication  of  the  Temple  after  its  pollution  by  the 
Syrians.  This  latter  is  kept  by  Jews  in  our  own  time,  and  is  still 
known  by  the  Hebrew  word  {khannkkali)  employed  here  :  see 
Num.  vii.  7,  and  on  Neh.  xii.  37. 

with  joy  :  in  the  LXX  Psalms  cxxxviii,  cxlvi-cxlviii  are  in  the 
title  connected  with  the  names  of  Haggai  and  Zechariah,  probably 
owing  to  an  ancient  tradition  that  these  psalms  were  composed  on 
the  present  occasion.  They  are  all  of  them  psalms  of  thanks- 
giving and  joy. 

17.  And  they  offered,  &c.  Compare  with  the  much  larger 
number  of  animals  offered  at  the  dedication  of  Solomon's  temple, 
I  Kings  viii.  5,  63. 

for  a  sin  offering-,  &c. :  the  practice  here,  understanding  the 
sacrifice  to  be  for  the  sin  of  the  congregation,  differs  from  the 
law  in  Lev.  iv.  13  ff.,  and  from  that  in  Num.  xv.  22  ff.  Here  (so 
viii.  35)  twelve  he-goats  :  in  the  latter  passage  (ver.  24)  a  bull  (or 
bullock)  is  to  be  offered  as  a  burnt  offering  and  a  he-goat  as  a  sin 
offering.  In  Lev.  iv.  14  one  bull  (or  bullock)  is  required  for  the 
sin  offering,  but  there  is  not  a  word  about  an  accompanying  burnt 
offering.  These  divergences  can  be  explained  only  as  character- 
istics of  different  periods.  See  Bertholet  on  Lev.  iv,  and  Gray  on 
Num.  XV.  22  ff 

sin  offering- :  a  sacrifice  first  mentioned  in  Ezek.  xl.  39,  and 
forming  an  important  part  of  the  P  code.  It  involved  the  acknow- 
ledgement of  sin  and  the  need  of  Divine  favour. 

18.  For  details  of  divisions  of  priests  and  courses  of  Levites  see 
I  Chron.  xxiii-xxvi,  where  the  word  translated  in  this  verse 
courses  is  (in  its  Heb.  form)  used  of  the  sub-divisions  of  Levites 
and  priests.  Except  in  the  present  verse  and  in  i  and  2  Chronicles 
the  word  does  not  occur  in  this  sense  in  the  O.  T.  The  Penta- 
teuch is,  therefore,  silent  about  these  courses  unless  they  are  im- 
plied in  Num.  iii,  vii.  Our  books  of  Chronicles  belong  in  their 
present  form  to  about  300  b.  c,  but  the  incidents  they  record  are 
of  course  older,  and  so  are  the  sources  used.  We  may  owe  this 
verse  and  even  (so  Bertholet)  this  whole  section  (verses  16-18)  to 
the  Chronicler,  but  it  is  not  at  all  unlikely  that  we  have  in  the 
priestly  divisions  and  the  Levitical  courses  the  beginnings  of  the 
more    elaborate   sub-divisions.       The  word    rendered    divisions 


EZRA  G.  19,  2c.     T,  T  III 

in  their  divisions,  and  the  Levites  in  their  courses,  for  the 
service  of  God,  which  is  at  Jerusalem  ;  as  it  is  written  in 
the  book  of  Moses. 

T  And  the  children  of  the  captivity  kept  the  passover  19 
upon  the  fourteenth  day  of  the  first  month.     For  the  20 
priests  and  the  Levites  had  purified  themselves  » together ; 
all  of  them  were  pure :  and  they  killed  the  passover  for 

*  Heb.  as  one. 

occurs  (in  its  Heb.  form)  but  once  in  Chronicles  (2  Chron.  xxxv. 
5),  and  not  then  as  here  of  priests,  but  of  the  Levites. 

After  courses  i  Esd.  vii.  7  adds  :  *  likewise  the  porters  at  each 
door.' 

as  it  is  written  in  the  "book  of  Moses  :  see  on  iii.  2.  Ac- 
cording to  I  Chron.  xxiii  ff.,  the  divisions  and  courses  are  due 
to  David  :  this  represents  a  late  tradition  and  nothing  more. 

With  ver.  18  the  Aramaic  section,  iv.  8-vi.  18,  comes  to  an 
end,  the  Hebrew  being  resumed  in  ver.  19. 

vi.  19-22.     Feast  of  Passover  and  Unleavened  Bread. 

The  Temple  is  built  and  the  priesthood  organized  ;  a  begin- 
ning is  now  made  in  the  observance  of  the  sacred  feasts.  This  is 
exactly  what  might  have  been  expected,  for  no  one  doubts  that  the 
three  great  feasts  had  been  observed  in  the  land  before  the  de- 
struction of  the  Temple. 

19.  See  Exod.  xiii.  6  ;  Lev.  xxiii.  5  (both  P). 

the  children  of  the  captivity :  see  on  iv.  i ;  render  '  (re- 
turned) exiles.' 

kept  the  passover  :  on  the  observances  of  the  feasts  ac- 
tually recorded  in  Ezra-Nehemiah,  &c,,  see  p.  10. 

first  month  :  i.  e.  Nisan.  Before  the  exile  the  year  began  in 
the  autumn  with  the  month  subsequently  and  still  called  Tishri, 
Nisan  being  the  seventh  month.  Soon  after  the  exile  the  Assyrian- 
Babylonian  names  and  the  habit  of  beginning  the  year  in  the 
spring  (Nisan)  became  general.  At  a  later  time,  however,  the 
older  custom,  still  in  vogue,  of  beginning  the  year  with  Tishri  in 
the  autumn  came  in. 

20.  For,  &c.  :    the  Passover  was  now  observed  because  the 
priests  and  Levites  had  purified  themselves.   See  2  Chron.  xxxv.  6. 

According  to  the  ancient  law  (Exod.  xii.  21-27)  the  Passover 
was  a  domestic  rite  at  which  the  head  of  the  hou^e  officiated.  The 
Deuteronomic  code  (Deut.  xvi.  1-8  ;  cf.  2  Kings  xxiii.  23)  required 
that  this  feast  should  be  kept  at  the  sanctuary,  the  priests  officiat- 
ing. The  P  code  (Exod.  xii.  1-20)  made  the  feast  once  more 
domestic  and  lay,  and  it  is  this  law  which  modern  Jews  follow, 


112  EZRA  6.  21,22.     T 

all  the  children  of  the  captivity,  and  for  their  brethren  the 
31  priests,  and  for  themselves.  And  the  children  of  Israel, 
which  were  come  again  out  of  the  captivity,  and  all  such 
as  had  separated  themselves  unto  them  from  the  filthiness 
of  the  heathen  of  the  land,  to  seek  the  Lord,  the  God  of 
2  2  Israel,  did  eat,  and  kept  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread 
seven  days  with  joy :  for  the  Lord  had  made  them 
joyful,  and  had  turned  the  heart  of  the  king  of  Assyria 
unto  them,  to  strengthen  their  hands  in  the  work  of  the 
house  of  God,  the  God  of  Israel. 

without,  however,  the  prescribed  sacrifice,  though  a  semblance 
of  the  paschal  lamb  is  still  kept  up  in  the  Keppurah,  In  the  pre- 
sent instance  the  Feasts  of  Passover  and  Unleavened  Bread  are  com- 
bined (not  so  in  JE) ;  the  first  is  kept  apparently  at  the  Central 
Sanctuary,  Levites  officiating.  The  P  code  does  not  appear  to 
have  become  as  yet  operative,  even  if  it  existed :  see  p.  lo. 

children  of  the  captivity:  see  on  iv.  i.  The  expression 
seems  here  to  denote  the  lay  members  of  the  community. 

21.  children  of  Israel:  render  Israelites.'  See  on  ii.  41 
and  iv.  i. 

and  all  such,  &c.  :  not  heathen  proselytes  as  some  hold  (see 
Meyer,  Entstehung,  &c.,  p.  129  f.),  buthome-staying  Jews  who  had 
married  non-Jewish  wives  and  proved  otherwise  unfaithful  to  the 
religion  of  their  fathers,  but  who  now  returned  to  the  old  faith, 
abandoning  their  heathen  wives  (see  x.  11).  Some  recent  critics 
(Bertholet,  Torrey,  Kent,  &c.)  hold  that  such  a  putting  away  of 
heathen  wives  took  place  first  not  in  515  B.C.,  as  the  present 
narrative  implies,  but  in  the  time  of  Ezra  (say  458  b.  c.)  :  see  ix.  i, 
X.  II  ;  Neh.  x.  29.  The  Chronicler  is  thought  to  have  antedated 
this  reforming  movement.  Surely,  however,  there  must  have  been 
enough  remembrance  of  the  teaching  of  Deuteronomy  (see  on 
x.  i)  to  suggest  the  desirability  of  such  a  step. 

to  seek  the  IiOBD  :  see  on  iv.  2. 

22.  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread :  originally  quite  distinct 
from  the  Passover:  see  Exod.  xxxiii.  15.  In  the  D  code  they 
appear  to  be  regarded  as  one.      See  Deut.  xvi.  2  f. 

the  king  of  Assyria:  i.e.  Darius  I,  so  called  because  his 
dominions  included  Assyria.  Perhaps  the  phrase  has  in  it  an 
implied  compliment  to  the  Persian  king  thus  described.  See 
Neh.  xiii.  6  where  Artaxerxes  I  is  called  '  King  of  Babylon.' 

Kings  of  Assyria  in  the  strict  sense  had  treated  Israel  in  a 
very  different  way  (see  Isa.  xxxvi-xxxix) ;  what  wonders  had  God 


EZRA  7.     T  113 

wrought  on  behalf  of  His  people  !  It  is  possible  that  Assyria  ap- 
pears  instead  of  Persia  (ver.  15')  through  a  copyist's  error,  for  as 
an  independent  power  Assyria  had  long  since  passed  away.  We 
know,  however,  that  Cyrus  gloried  in  the  title  '  King  of  Babylon,' 
and  Artaxerxes  is  so  called  in  Neh.  xiii.  6. 

VII-X  +  Neh.  vii.  73'^-x.  39. 

Second  Portion  of  the  Book.     Ezra's  Arrival  at 
Jerusalem  and  what  he  did  there. 

Between  chaps,  vi  and  vii  there  is  a  period  of  nearly  sixty  years, 
about  which  the  Bible  is  silent.  Nor  have  we  contemporary  or 
any  other  reliable  records  as  to  the  condition  or  doings  of  the  Jews 
during  these  years.  It  was,  however,  in  these  apparently  barren 
years  that  the  priestly  code  was  elaborated  by  the  priests  who  had 
not  left  Babylon,  and  that  part  at  least  of  Isa.  xl.  ff.  was  composed 
and  put  together — also  in  Babylon.  It  is  singular  that  the  latest 
editors  of  Ezra-Nehemiah  should  jump  over  this  space  of  time. 
Perhaps,  indeed,  in  the  original  draft  of  the  history  this  gap  did 
not  exist.  There  must  have  been  at  one  time  state,  temple,  and 
other  records  dealing  with  the  period,  which  however  appear  to 
have  been  lost  quite  early.  Though  little  is  told  us  in  the  present 
section  of  the  state  of  things  when  Ezra  arrived,  much  may  be 
gathered  from  what  is  said  in  Nehemiah  of  the  condition  of  the 
country  thirteen  years  later,  when  Nehemiah  came  to  Jerusalem. 
Neh.  V.  I -1 5  shows  that  Jerusalem  was  in  a  bad  way.  Capitalists 
acted  unjustly  and  cruelly  towards  their  debtors  ;  the  governors  im- 
mediately before  Nehemiah  were  extortionate  and  unsympathetic. 
Religiously  matters  were  even  worse.  It  seems  evident  that  this 
description  applies  more  or  less  for  decades  before  Nehemiah 
received  permission  to  act  the  reformer  among  his  own  people. 
It  was  no  doubt  a  knowledge  of  the  state  of  matters  at  and  about 
Jerusalem  that  induced  Ezra  also  to  seek  and  obtain  permission 
to  go  to  Jerusalem  to  teach  the  law  of  God  and  to  re-establish 
religious  institutions. 

We  read  no  more  of  Zerubbabel,  and  we  have  no  certain  infor- 
mation as  to  what  became  of  him.  Tradition  has  it  that  he  returned 
to  the  Persian  court,  where  he  remained.  It  has  not  been  proved, 
though  it  has  been  affirmed,  that  he  accepted  the  role  of  Davidic 
king,  and  even  that  of  Messiah.      See  on  v.  2. 

vii  f.  EzrcCs  arrival  at  Jerusalem ;  incidents  of  the  journey 
II  I  Esd.  viii.  1-64  (66). 

vii,  i-io  II  I  Esd.  viii.  1-7.  Introductory  narrative  giving  in  brief 
a  summary  of  what  follows  in  verses  11-28.  Perhaps  originally 
verses  11-28  were  written  on  a  special  parchment,  to  which 
verses  i-io  were  attached  as  a  docket  or  title. 


114  EZRA  7.  1-5    Te 

7      [Te]  Now  after  these  things,  in  the  reign  of  Artaxerxes 
king  of  Persia,  Ezra  the  son  of  Seraiah,  the  son  of  Azariah, 

2  the  son  of  Hilkiah,  the  son  of  Shallum,  the  son  of  Zadok, 

3  the  son  of  Ahitub,  the  son  of  Amariah,  the  son  of  Azariah, 

4  the  son  of  Meraioth,  the  son  of  Zerahiah,  the  son  of 

5  Uzzi,  the  son  of  Bukki,  the  son  of  Abishua,  the  son  of 
Phinehas,  the  son  of  Eleazar,  the  son  of  Aaron  the  chief 

1.  Now  after  these  thingrs  :  a  phrase  in  common  use  in  Heb. 
(Gen.  XV.  i,  &c.),  and  meaning  simply  that  what  is  going  to  be 
related  took  place  subsequently  to  what  has  been  related.  In 
Semitic,  as  in  the  classical  languages,  paragraphs  and  sentences 
are  linked  by  connecting  particles  and  phrases,  which  in  English 
would  have  no  external  mark  of  connexion. 

Artaxerxes,  i.  e.  Artaxerxes  I,  Longimanus  (465-423).  Other 
opinions  have  been  held  and  defended  ;  see  the  larger  comment- 
aries. It  is  at  all  events  clear  that  the  Artaxerxes  of  Nehemiah 
(see  Neh.  ii.  i)  is  the  above  king,  since  Nehemiah  was  governor 
of  Judah  in  the  time  of  the  high-priest  Eliashib,  grandson  of 
Joshua,  high-priest  in  520  (Neh.  iii.  1,  xii.  16):  Artaxerxes  II, 
Mnemon  (404-359),  lived  at  too  late  a  time  to  make  this  possible. 
That  the  compiler  and  final  editor  of  Ezra-Nehemiah  took  this 
Artaxerxes  to  be  Longimanus  seems  almost  certain,  for  he  would 
otherwise  have  differentiated  in  some  way  the  king  mentioned  in 
this  verse.     See  on  Neh.  ii.  i. 

From  i''  to  the  end  of  ver.  5  we  have  the  genealogy  of  Ezra, 
But  the  list  is  obviously  a  greatly  curtailed  one,  for  only  fifteen 
individuals  are  mentioned  in  the  line  of  descent  from  Aaron  to 
Ezra,  i.  e.  for  the  space  of  some  900  or  1,000  years.  Probably 
ben  (  =  'son')  is  to  be  understood  in  the  sense  of  'descendant.' 
Ezra  cannot  in  the  ordinary  sense  be  the  son  of  Seraiah,  since 
the  latter  died  about  586  b.  c.  according  to  2  Kings  xxv.  18-21, 
though  of  course  another  person  of  the  same  name  might  have 
lived  a  century  or  so  later.  See  on  v.  i,  viii.  2,  and  Neh.  xii.  23. 
The  name  Ezra  (  —  *  help  ')  as  it  stands,  an  Aramaic  form,  is  probably 
a  contraction  of  Ezaryahu  '  (one  whom)  Yahweh  helps.'  Cf.  Nehe- 
miah ='  (one  whom)  Yahweh  comforts,'  and  Isaiah  (Heb.  Yesha- 
yahu)  =a  '  (one  whom)  Yahweh  delivers.'  The  name  is  borne  by 
others,  see  Neh.  xii.  i,  13,  33. 

5.  Aaron  the  chief  priest :  the  purpose  of  the  genealogy  was 
lo  show  Ezra's  descent  from  Aaron.  In  the  older  sources  (J,  E,  D) 
Aaron  is  Moses'  spokesman  (Exod.  iv.  14,  xxiv.  i)  and  a  priest 
(Deut.  x.  6,  J,  E,  not  D). 

The  words  rendered  chief  priest  mean  literally  the  '  head 


EZRA  7.  6-8.     Te  115 

priest :  this  Ezra  went  up  from  Babylon  ;  and  he  was  6 
a  ready  scribe  in  the  law  of  Moses,  which  the  Lord,  the 
God  of  Israel,  had  given  :  and  the  king  granted  him  all 
his  request,  according  to  the  hand  of  the  Lord  his  God 
upon  him.  And  there  went  up  some  of  the  children  of  7 
Israel,  and  of  the  priests,  and  the  Levites,  and  the 
singers,  and  the  porters^  and  the  Nethinim,  unto  Jeru- 
salem, in  the  seventh  year  of  Artaxerxes  the  king.     And  8 

priest,' and  occur  in  2  Sam.  xv.  27  (Wellhausen  rejects  them  here), 
2  Kings  XXV.  18  (  =  Jer.  Hi.  24),  and  some  half-dozen  times  in 
2  Chronicles.  In  the  P  code  the  expression  is  *  the  great  priest,' 
E.VV  '  the  high  priest '  :  see  Lev.  xxi.  10  ;  Num.  xxxv.  25,  28,  &c. 
In  earlier  times  he  is  called  simply  '  the  priest '  :  see  2  Kings  xi. 
9  f.  Though  it  is  in  post-exilic  times  that  the  high-priest  became 
an  important  functionary,  there  is  abundance  of  evidence  that  such 
an  official  existed  before  the  exile:  see  DB.  iv.  73,  79 ff.  (Bau- 
dissin).  Yet  it  is  singular  that  in  Ezekiel's  programme  of  religious 
institutions  and  offices  (Ezek.  xl-xlvi)  the  high-priesthood  finds  no 
place,  probably  because  it  had  not  yet  become  a  vital  part  of  the 
ecclesiastical  system. 

6-10.   77?^  return  of  Ezra  and  his  companions. 

6.  went  up,  i.  e.  to  Jerusalem.     See  ver.  7,  ii.  i,  and  viii.  i. 
ready  :  lit.  '  quick.' 

scribe :  originally  a  secular  official,  state  secretary ;  see 
2  Sam.  viii.  17,  xx.  35;  i  Kings  iv.  3  ;  2  Kings  xviii.  18,  xxii. 
3,  &c.  In  the  beginning  of  the  Deuteronomic  period,  when 
through  the  finding  of  the  book  of  the  law  in  the  Temple  the 
written  word  acquired  a  fresh  importance,  the  term  came  to  be 
used  for  one  who  studied  and  taught  as  well  as  copied  the  law. 
Though  the  sense  'writer'  is  the  oldest,  that  of  'interpreter'  be- 
came more  and  more  its  principal  meaning.  In  post-exilic  times 
the  scribes  grew  to  be  a  very  important  section  of  the  people,  such 
as  they  were  in  our  Lord's  day. 

the  law  of  Moses  :  see  on  iii.  2.  The  reference  is,  however, 
here  especially  to  the  law  which  Ezra  had  brought  with  him 
from  Babylon  (ver.  14)  :  see  p.  8fF. 

according-  to  the  hand,  &c.  :  the  phrase  -  '  according  to 
Yahweh's  helpfulness  towards  him,'  and  is  characteristic  of  the 
Ezra  memoirs  from  which  the  present  narrative  is  extracted.  See 
verses  9,  28;  viii.  18,  22,31;  and  also  Neh.  ii.  8,  18.  Cf.  'the 
eye  of  their  God,'  v.  5,  and  see  2  Chron.  xxx.  12. 

7.  For  the  classes  here  mentioned  see  ii.  36  fF. 

in  the  seventh  year  of  Artaxerxes :  i.  e.  in  458. 

I  2 


ii6  EZRA  7.  9,  lo.     Te 

he  came  to  Jerusalem  in  the  fifth  month,  which  was  in 
9  the  seventh  year  of  the  king.  For  upon  the  first  day 
of  the  first  month  ^  began  he  to  go  up  from  Babylon, 
and  on  the  first  day  of  the  fifth  month  came  he  to 
Jerusalem,  according  to  the  good  hand  of  his  God  upon 
10  him.     For  Ezra  had  set  his  heart  to  seek  the  law  of  the 

*  Heb.  that  was  the  foundation  of  the  going  up. 

8.  the  fifth  month:  i.e.  Ab  (Abib),  corresponding  to  our  July 
or  August. 

Since  Nehemiah  arrived  in  the  twentieth  year  of  this  king 
(Neh.  ii.  i),  there  was  a  space  of  thirteen  years  between  the  two 
arrivals  (458-445). 

Wellhausen  thinks  that  Ezra  arrived  in  the  twenty-seventh  year 
(i.  e.  427),  the  number  twenty  having  fallen  out.  Van  Hoonacker, 
who  agrees  with  Kosters  in  making  Ezra's  visit  subsequent  to  Nehe- 
miah's,  says  Artaxerxes  II,  Mnemon  (404-359),  is  the  king  meant  in 
ver.  7  ;  see  on  ver.  7.  Winckler,  in  different  parts  of  the  same 
volume  {Altor.  Forschungen,  ii.  222,  242),  argues  inconsistently  for 
two  different  dates,  viz.  in  the  reigns  of  Cambyses  and  Darius. 

9.  began :  it  is  better  to  vocalize  the  Heb.  as  in  Esther  i.  8 
(*  so  the  king  had  appointed,^  &c.),  and  to  translate  *  decided  '  or 
'  arranged.'  Though  the  journey  was  decided  upon  on  the  first 
day  of  the  first  month  it  was  not  actually  begun  before  eleven  days 
later  :  see  viii.  32.  The  time  taken  for  the  journey  would  be 
about  108  days,  reckoning  from  the  twelfth  day  of  Nisan  (viii.  31) 
to  the  first  day  of  Ab.  The  distance  from  Babylon  to  Jerusalem 
in  a  straight  line  is  about  300  miles.  But  travelling  in  the  East, 
especially  in  those  times,  was  difficult  as  well  as  dangerous  ;  and  the 
Jews  now  had  much  valuable  baggage  to  carry  and  to  care  about. 
Besides,  to  avoid  the  desert,  Ezra's  caravan  had  to  make  a  detour 
by  Carchemish.  Ryle  calculates  that  the  actual  distance  covered 
was  fully  900  miles.  The  arrival  would  take  place  about  August 
(Ab)  in  the  year  458.  See  Ryle  (in  loco)  and  Meyer,  Entstehung,  239. 

10.  Why  did  Ezra  set  about  that  long  journey?  We  have  the 
answer  in  this  verse. 

to  seek :  see  on  iv.  2,  Two  Hebrew  words  are  translated 
'seek'  in  the  English  Bible.  The  one  {dayash)  =  ^ to  seek  know- 
ledge,' '  to  search,'  and  is  cognate  with  midrash  (an  investigation 
of  the  sense  of  Scripture).  The  other  {biqqesh)  =  *  to  seek  for  what 
is  lost.'  It  is  the  first  that  is  used  here  and  in  iv.  2,  and  vi.  21, 
Both  verbs  occur  in  Ps.  cv.  4  (see  on  in  Century  Bible). 

Here  the  meaning  seems  to  be  to  recognize  Yahweh's  law  and 
that  of  no  other  god.  The  next  clause  (to  act  according  to  the 
law  then  recognized)  supports  this  interpretation. 


EZRA   7.  11-13.      Th   Tea  117 

Lord,  and  to  do  it,  and  to  teach  in  Israel  statutes  and 
judgements. 

[Tea]  Now  this  is  the  copy  of  the  letter  that  the  king  1 1 
Artaxerxes  gave  unto  Ezra  the  priest,  the  scribe,  even  the 
scribe  of  the  words  of  the  commandments  of  the  Lord, 
and  of  his  statutes  to  Israel.    ^  Artaxerxes,  king  of  kings,  12 
unto  Ezra  the  priest,  the  scribe  of  the  law  of  the  God  of 
heaven,  perfect  and  so  forth.     I  make  a  decree,  that  all  13 

*  Ch.  vii.  12-26  is  in  Aramaic. 

to  teach :  this  was  the  special  function  of  the  sopher  or  scribe  : 
see  on  ver.  5. 

11-26  (II  I  Esd.  viii.  8-24).     The  decree  of  Artaxerxes  author- 
izing Ezra  to  return  and  reorganize  Judaism. 

11.  Introductory  (Hebrew). 

ITow  :  the  connecting  particle  (see  on  ver.  t),  not  the  time- 
adverb  'now.' 

copy :  see  on  iv.  1 1. 

letter  :  see  on  iv.  7. 

Ezra  the  priest :  see  genealogy,  verses  1-5.  He  is  so  called 
in  X.  10,  16,  Neh.  viii.  2,  and  also  in  the  title  to  Ezra  and  i  Esdras 
in  the  Luc.  In  later  times  and  perhaps  here  '  the  priest'  =  '  the 
high-priest ' :  so  Neh.  xiii.  4,  i  Chron.  xvi.  39,  and  often  in  P. 

the  scribe  :  see  on  ver.  6.  He  is  so  called  in  Neh.  viii.  4, 13, 
xii.  36.  The  two  titles  *  the  priest '  and  '  the  scribe '  are  found 
together  not  only  here  but  also  in  verses  12,  21,  Neh.  viii.  9, 
xii.  26. 

12-26,  Contents  of  the  King's  Letter  (Aramaic). 

12.  kingr  of  kings:    Darius  is  so  described    in    the    Gadatas 
inscription.     See  p.  102. 

Ood  of  heaven  :  see  on  i.  2. 

perfect :  the  Aramaic  word  has  the  force  of  our  '  &c.' 
Orientals  (Arabs,  &c.)  are  in  the  habit,  when  addressing  persons 
of  distinction,  of  heaping  up  epithets  to  an  extent  that  is  hardly 
credible  to  Western  minds.  Even  our  German  neighbours  will 
write  on  an  envelope  :  '■  To  the  high  born,  learned,  and  very 
honoured  A. B.C.'  After  scribe  the  word  rendered  perfect  (lit. 
what  is  to  be  completed)  means  :  *  and  the  other  titles  of  respect.' 
In  Rabbinical  Heb.  a  form  of  this  word  with  the  conjunction  = 
'  and  '  prefixed  is  used  (often  abbreviated)  as  our  '  &c.' 

and  so  forth  :  render  (wrote)    '  as  follows  '  :  see  on  iv.  10. 

13.  Z  make  a  decree  :  see  iv.  19,  vi.  8,  11. 
all  they,  &c.  :  see  i.  3. 


Il8  EZRA  7.  14-16.     Tea 

they  of  the  people  of  Israel,  and  their  priests  and  the 
Levites,  in  my  realm,  which  are  minded  of  their  own  free 

14  will  to  go  to  Jerusalem,  go  with  thee.  Forasmuch  as 
thou  art  sent  ^  of  the  king  and  his  seven  counsellors,  to 
inquire  concerning  Judah  and  Jerusalem,  according  to 

1 5  the  law  of  thy  God  which  is  in  thine  hand  ;  and  to  carry 
the  silver  and  gold,  which  the  king  and  his  counsellors 
have  freely  offered  unto  the  God  of  Israel,  whose  habita- 

16  tion  is  in  Jerusalem,  and  all  the  silver  and  gold  that  thou 

*  Aram,  frojii  before  the  king. 

with  thee :  Ezra  had  to  be  director  of  the  work. 

14-16.  Ezra  was  commissioned  (r)  to  make  inquiries  about  the 
state  of  Judah  and  Jerusalem  (ver.  14)  ;  (2)  to  carry  with  him  the 
gifts  of  the  king  and  his  counsellors  and  other  contributions. 

14.  seven  counsellors :  according  to  Herodotus  (iii.  84)  the 
heads  of  the  seven  principal  families  in  Persia  formed  a  kind  of 
privy  council  to  advise  the  king  in  affairs  of  moment.  Each 
of  these  had  the  privilege  of  access  to  the  king.  See  Esther  i.  14. 
Seven  among  the  Pei-sians,  as  among  the  Hebrews,  was  a  sacred 
number:  cf.  the  heavenly  court  consisting  of  Ahuramazda  and  the 
six  Amesha  spentas,  or,  according  to  another  conception,  the 
seven  Amesha  spentas,  the  Supreme  Good  Spirit  named  being  one. 
The  Divine  court  formed  perhaps  the  pattern  for  the  human. 
Judah  and  Jerusalem:  see  on  v.  i. 

law  .  .  .  hand  :  the  reference  must  be  to  some  code  freshly 
brought  by  Ezra  from  Babylon  and  previously  unknown  to  Jews 
residing  already  in  Judah.  That  this  code  concerned  itself  almost, 
if  not  exclusively,  with  the  religious  side  of  the  nation's  life  goes 
without  saying,  but  as  to  what  exactly  it  contained  has  been 
matter  of  much  discussion,  and  must  remain  so  with  our  present 
data.  That  it  did  not  coincide  with  our  Pentateuch  or  with  the 
Priestly  Code  is,  however,  among  the  things  which  cannot  be 
doubted.     See  p.  8  ff. 

15  f.  The  contributions  towards  the  Temple  and  its  services 
which  Ezra  was  to  take  with  him  were  to  be  of  three  kinds:  (i) 
The  gold  and  silver  given  by  the  king  and  his  (seven)  counsellors  ; 
(2)  the  gifts  of  non-Jewish,  and  (3)  of  Jewish  residents  in  Baby- 
lon. Cf.  the  decree  of  Cyrus  to  restore  the  gold  and  silver  vessels 
removed  from  Jerusalem  by  Nebuchadnezzar  :  see  on  i.  6-1 1  and 
cf.  V.  14  and  vi.  5.  Ezra  showed  no  scruple  in  accepting  the 
financial  help  of  Gentiles. 


EZRA  7.  17-21.     Tea  ^9 

shalt  find  in  all  the  province  of  Babylon,  with  the  freewill 
offering  of  the  people,  and  of  the  priests,  offering  will- 
ingly for  the  house  of  their  God  which  is  in  Jerusalem ; 
therefore  thou   shalt  with   all  diligence   buy   with  this  17 
money  bullocks,  rams,  lambs,  with  their  meal  offerings 
and  their  drink  offerings,  and  shalt  offer  them  upon  the 
altar  of  the  house  of  your  God  which  is  in  Jerusalem. 
And   whatsoever  shall  seem  good  to  thee  and  to  thy  18 
brethren  to  do  with  the  rest  of  the  silver  and  the  gold,  that 
do  ye  after  the  will  of  your  God.     And  the  vessels  that  19 
are  given  thee  for  the  service  of  the  house  of  thy  God, 
deliver  thou  before  the  God  of  Jerusalem.     And  whatso-  20 
ever  more  shall  be  needful  for  the  house  of  thy  God, 
which  thou  shalt  have  occasion  to  bestow,  bestow  it  out 
of  the  king's  treasure  house.     And  I,  even  I  Artaxerxes  21 

16.  offering-  willingrly,  Sec. :  that  the  king  in  writing  to  Jews 
about  religious  affairs  should  adopt  this  religious  phraseology  is 
exactly  what  might  have  been  expected  from  a  Persian  monarch 
of  the  time  :  see  on  vi.  12. 

17  f.  The  money  thus  obtained  was  to  be  used  in  providing  the 
material  for  sacrifice  (ver.  17  ;  cf  Joel  i.  8-12)  and  in  meeting 
other  needs  (ver.  i8~^. 

17.  On  the  species  of  sacrifices  here  enumerated  see  on  vi.  9 
and  also  on  vi.  17. 

18.  the  will  of  your  God  :  as  revealed  in  the  law  which 
Ezra  was  to  bring  with  him  :  see  p.  8  ft'. 

19.  the  vessels,  &c.  :  not  those  granted  by  Cyrus  (i.  7),  but 
those  enumerated  in  viii.  25-27. 

deliver  :  Schultz,  Siegfried,  Bertholet,  and  others  render 
'deliver  completely,'  '  hand  over  wholly.'  The  usage  in  Syriac 
supports  this.      The  extent  of  the  gift  is  stated  in  ver.  22. 

the  God  of  Jerusalem  :  a  strange  and  unparalleled  expres- 
sion. Probably  we  should  read  with  Guthe  {SBOT.)  '  the  God  of 
Israel  who  is  at  Jerusalem,"  or  with  Luc,  'thy  God  who  is  at 
Jerusalem,' 

20.  the  king's  treasure  house :  i.  e.  the  treasury  of  the 
satrap  of  Transpotamia,  where  the  taxes  collected  in  the  satrapy 
were  kept  until  they  were  transmitted  to  the  principal  royal  fiscus 
at  Susa. 


126  EZRA  7.  22,  23.      Tea 

the  king,  do  make  a  decree  to  all  the  treasurers  which 
are  beyond  the  river,  that  whatsoever  Ezra  the  priest,  the 
scribe  of  the  law  of  the  God  of  heaven,  shall  require  of 

23  you,  it  be  done  with  all  diligence,  unto  an  hundred  talents 
of  silver,  and  to  an  hundred  ^  measures  of  wheat,  and  to 
an  hundred  baths  of  wine,  and  to  an  hundred  baths  of 

23  oil,  and  salt  without  prescribing  how  much.  Whatsoever 
is  commanded  by  the  God  of  heaven,  let  it  be  done  ex- 
actly for  the  house  of  the  God  of  heaven  ;  for  why 
should  there  be  wrath  against  the  realm  of  the  king  and 

*  Aram.  cors. 

21.  treasurers:  the  treasurers  of  the  sub-satrapies  of  Transpo- 
tamia  :  see  on  iv.  8.  These  would  severally  have  charge  of  the 
taxes  until  they  were  transferred  to  the  principal  treasury  of  the 
province,  whence  in  due  time  they  were  taken  to  Susa,  local 
expenses,  and  in  this  case  the  gifts  to  the  Jews,  being  in  all  cases 
deducted  and  accounted  for. 

God  of  heaven:  see  on  i.  2. 

with  all  diligrence  :  see  on  v.  8  and  vi.  8. 

22.  The  utmost  limit  of  the  help  which  Ezra  may  receive  from 
the  public  purse. 

hundred  talents  of  silver :  slightly  over  £35,000,  accord- 
ing to  Meyer.  A  Persian  talent  weighed,  according  to  Benzinger 
(ArchA'>,  201),  about  34,000  kilogrammes  (see  on  viii.  26}.  Meyer 
(Entstehung,  69  n.)  says  that  sums  almost  fabulously  large  were 
preserved  in  the  Persian  exchequer. 

an  hundred  measures  (Aram.  '  corin  ')  of  wheat :  about 
1,000  bushels. 

an  hundred  haths  of  wine  :  about  800  gallons. 

salt  being  very  plentiful,  and  therefore  cheap,  could  be 
obtained  in  any  quantity.  On  the  place  of  salt  in  the  sacrificial 
system  see  on  vi.  9. 

23.  Note  the  terms  of  respect  with  which  Artaxerxes  speaks  of 
the  Jewish  God,  and  see  on  i.  2. 

exactly:  the  original  word  is  Persian  and  should  probably 
(with  Marquart,  Andreas,  &c.)  be  translated  *  promptly.' 

for  why,  &c.  :  render,  '  that  there  be  no  anger  (on  the  part  of 
Yahweh)  to  the  detriment  of  the  kingdom  of  the  king  and  his  sons.' 

for  why,  &c. :  the  words  may  and  here  should  be  rendered, 
as  above,  *  lest,'  &c. 

wrath  ;  just  as  Artaxerxes  feared  to  incur  the  anger  of 
Yahweh,  the  national  God  of  Israel,  so  the  Israelites  themselves 


EZRA  7.  24-26.     Tea  121 

his  sons  ?    Also  we  certify  you,  that  touching  any  of  the  24 
priests  and  Levites,  the  singers,  porters,  Nethinim,  or 
servants  of  this  house  of  God,  it  shall  not  be  lawful  to 
impose  tribute,  custom,  or  toll,  upon  them.     And  thou,  25 
Ezra,  after  the  wisdom  of  thy  God  that  is  in  thine  hand, 
appoint  magistrates  and  judges,  which  may  judge  all  the 
people  that  are  beyond  the  river,  all  such  as  know  the 
laws  of  thy  God ;  and  teach  ye  him  that  knoweth  them 
not.     And  whosoever  will  not  do  the  law  of  thy  God,  and  26 
the  law  of  the  king,  let  judgement  be  executed  upon  him 

had  a  great  fear  of  offending  Chemosh,  the  national  deity  of  Moab. 
See  2  Kings  iii.  27.  Perhaps  to  the  Persian  king,  as  a  Mazdaist, 
Yahweh  was  his  own  supreme  deity  (Ahuramazda)  as  he  revealed 
himself  to  the  Jews. 

24.  Temple  officials  are  not  to  be  taxed. 
priests  .  . .  NetMnim :  see  on  ii.  36  ff. 

or  servants,  &c.  :  render,  '  even  (all)  the  servants  of/  &c. 
The  words  are  a  summing  up  of  the  classes  mentioned.  The  same 
Aram,  (and  Heb.)  word  {waw)  stands  for  'and,'  'or,'  <even,'  &c. 

tribute,  &c.  :  see  on  iv.  13.  According  to  the  Gadatas 
inscription  (see  on  vi.  1-12)  the  priests  of  Apollo  were  to  be 
exempted  from  paying  taxes,  just  as  here  the  priests,  &c.,  are 
exempted.  Yet  some  think  that  in  the  present  case  it  is  unlikely. 
Why? 

25.  after  the  wisdom,  &c. :  i.  e.  '  according  to  thy  God's 
law,'  &c.  See  on  ver.  14.  What,  if  any,  is  the  difference  between 
the  magistrates  and  judges  whom  Ezra  was  to  appoint  over  the 
Jews  of  Transpotamia  ?  Meyer  says  that  two  synonyms  are  used 
for  the  sake  of  emphasis,  and  Bertliolet  fails  to  see  any  difference 
of  meaning  between  the  two  words.  Perhaps  the  word  translated 
jndgfes  {shaphetin)  has  in  it  here  something  of  its  original  mean- 
ing '  rulers.'     Probably,  however,  it  is  a  marginal  gloss. 

judge :  the  verb  here  is  cognate  with  the  word  rendered 
*  magistrates,'  a  reason  for  regarding  the  two  classes  noticed  above 
as  having  identical  functions.  It  is  evident  from  the  words  which 
follow  that  these  officials  were  to  have  jurisdiction  over  the  Jews 
alone  of  Transpotamia. 

26.  the  law  of  thy  God,  and  ...  of  the  king- :  so  far  as  the 
Jews  of  the  province  were  concerned  the  king,  by  adopting  the 
Jewish  code,  made  it  his  own,  so  that  disobedience  towards 
Ezra's  new  law  exposed  the  individual  guilty  of  it  to  the  penalties 
annexed  to  infringement  of  Persian  law. 


I2i  EZRA  7.  27,28.     ThaE 

with  all  diligence,  whether  it  be  unto  death,  or  to  ^  banish- 
ment, or  to  confiscation  of  goods,  or  to  imprisonment. 

a  7  [E]  Blessed  be  the  Lord,  the  God  of  our  fathers,  which 
hath  put  such  a  thing  as  this  in  the  king's  heart,  to  beautify 

2S  the  house  of  the  Lord  which  is  in  Jerusalem ;  and  hath 
extended  mercy  unto  me  before  the  king,  and  his  coun- 
sellors, and  before  all  the  king's  mighty  princes.  And  I 
was  strengthened  according  to  the  hand  of  the  Lord  my 
God  upon  me,  and  I  gathered  together  out  of  Israel  chief 
men  to  go  up  with  me. 

*  Aram,  rooting"  out. 

'bam.sta.ment :  Aram,  "'  uprooting.'  The  cognate  verb  in 
Ps.  lii.  5  is  rendered  '  and  root  thee  (out  of  the  land  of  the  living).' 
The  sense  here  is  probably  '  excommunication,'  not  '  banish- 
ment ' :  see  x.  8. 

27  f.  Ezra's  Doxology  (Hebrew'.  This  is  perhaps  a  Psalm  com- 
posed by  Ezra  to  be  sung  after  the  receipt  of  the  king's  decree. 
It  comes  in  rather  abruptlj'  after  ver.  26.  Originally  there  were, 
it  seems  likeh',  some  words  of  introduction  to  verses  27  f.,  such  as 
*  And  Ezra  spake  these  words  after  he  had  received  the  royal  decree.' 

27.  Q-od  of  onx  fathers :  the  God  who  helped  our  fathers  has 
shown  Himself  our  Helper:  see  viii.  28,  x.  11  ;  i  Chron.  xxix.  18  ; 
2  Chron.  xx.  6.  Cf.  Acts  iii.  13,  and  Doddridge's  hjmn,  *  O  God  of 
Bethel,'  '  God  of  our  fathers  be  the  God  of  their  succeeding  race.' 

liath  pnt  ...  in  tlie  king's  heart :  see  Neh.  ii.  12,  vii.  5  ; 
r  Kings  x.  24. 

to  beautify:  the  sense  is  to  restore  the  Temple  to  the  glory 
which  it  had  before  its  destruction  by  Nebuchadnezzar.  So 
Sellin,  Siegfried. 

28.  mercy  :  render,  'loving  kindness' ;  the  Aram,  word  has  in 
it  no  implication  of  guilt.  See  '  Psalms.'  vol.  i,  p.  360,  Century  Bible. 
For  the  phrase  '  extend  loving  kindness 'see ix.  9  ;  Gen.  xxxix.  21. 

unto  me  :  the  use  of  the  first  person  in  the  Ezra  memoirs 
begins  here. 

his  counsellors  :  see  on  ver.  14. 

Vni.  1-14   (=  I  Esd.  viii.  28-40). 
List  of  those  who  returned  with  Ezra. 

For  general  remarks  on  the  lists  of  Ezra-Nehemiah  see  Introd. 
to  II  and  notes  on  the  various  sections  and  verses  of  that 
chapter.     In  the  present  list  the  clerical  element  takes  precedence 


EZRA  8.  1-3.     E  123 

Now  these  are  the  heads  of  their  fathers'  houses^  and  8 
this  is  the  genealogy  of  them  that  went  up  with  me  from 
Babylon,  in  the  reign  of  Artaxerxes  the  king.     Of  the  2 
sons   of  Phinehas,  Gershom  :    of  the  sons  of  Ithamar, 
Daniel :  of  the  sons  of  David,  Hattush.     Of  the  sons  of  3 

of  the  lay,  the  priests  being  named  first  (ver.  2),  the  lay  clans 
afterwards  (verses  3-14).  It  is  so  in  x.  18  ff.  and  in  Neh.  x.  3  fT. 
But  in  Ezra  ii  and  Neh.  vii  the  lay  clans  are  mentioned  first.  The 
difference  may  be  due  to  the  pre-eminence  of  the  lay  leaders  in 
the  first  century  after  the  return.  The  power  of  the  priests  grew 
rapidly  after  the  introduction  of  Ezra's  law,  itself  the  work  of  the 
priestly  school  in  Babylon. 

The  list  in  verses  1-14  has  been  shortened,  and  mistakes  have 
evidently  crept  in ;  perhaps  all  this  is  to  be  ascribed  to  the  igno- 
rance or  carelessness  of  copyists  or  to  the  imperfect  state  of  the 
parchment  and  writing  before  them. 

The  following  plan  may  be  yet  traced,  and  it  is  likely  that  in 
the  original  draft  it  was  uniformly  followed  :  (i)  The  name  of  the 
clan  ;  (2)  that  of  its  chief;  (3)  the  number  belonging  to  the  clan 
that  returned  with  Ezra.  Where  the  M.T.  falls  short,  judged  by 
this  scheme,  the  defect  can  be  generally  made  good  from  the  LXX 
or  I  Esdras  or  both. 

The  sum  total,  according  to  the  M.T.,  is  1,496;  according  to 
I  Esdras  it  is  1,690.  The  discrepancy  arises  from  the  following 
differences  in  details:  the  Adin  clan,  Ezra  (ver.  6)  50,  i  Esd. 
(ver,  32)  250  ;  Shephatiah,  Ezra  (ver.  7)  80,  i  Esd.  (ver.  34) 
70 ;  Joab,  Ezra  (ver.  9)  218,  i  Esd.  (ver.  35)  212 ;  Adonikam, 
Ezra  (ver.  13)  60,  i  Esd.  (ver.  39)  70.  Correcting  the  M.  T.  by 
I  Esdras  as  above,  we  obtain  the  number  1,692,  as  against  the 
sum  total  of  1,690  in  i  Esdras. 

1.  Now:  see  on  vii.  11. 

heads  of  their  fathers'  houses :  sec  on  i.  5. 
the  gfenealogry :  see  on  ii.  62. 

2.  The  priestly  clans  are  mentioned  first,  then  the  royal  David 
clan.     On  the  meaning  of  house  or  clan  see  p.  52  f. 

Phinehas :  son  of  Eleazar  and  grandson  of  Aaron. 

Ithamar:  youngest  son  of  Aaron :  Exod.  vi.  23  ;  i  Chron.  v.  29. 

Gershom  and  Daniel  are  heads  of  the  Phinehas  and  Ithamar 
clans,  and  not  the  only  priests  in  the  company  (see  ver.  24). 
Ezra  himself  belonged  to  the  Phinehas  clan  (see  vii.  1-5). 

Daniel :  called  Gamaliel  (or  Gamael  ?)  in  i  Esd.  29.  Daniel 
is  the  name  in  Neh.  viii.  29.     Perhaps  the  clan  had  two  names. 

Hattush,  &c.  Join  with  the  next  verse  and  render  '  Hattush 
the  son  of  Shecaniah.'     So  i  Esd.  viii.  39  ;  cf.  i  Chron.  iii.  22, 


124  EZRA  8.  4-11.     E 

Shecaniah  ;  of  the  sons  of  Parosh,  Zechariah  :  and  with 
him  were  reckoned  by  genealogy  of  the  males  an  hundred 

4  and  fifty.     Of  the  sons  of  Pahath-moab,  Eliehoenai  the 
son   of  Zerahiah;    and  with  him   two  hundred   males. 

5  Of  the  sons  of  Shecaniah,  the  son  of  Jahaziel ;  and  with 

6  him  three  hundred  males.     And  of  the  sons  of  Adin, 
Ebed  the  son  of  Jonathan ;  and  with  him  fifty  males. 

7  And  of  the  sons  of  Elam,  Jeshaiah  the  son  of  Athaliah  ; 

8  and  with  him  seventy  males.  And  of  the  sons  of  Shepha- 
tiah,  Zebadiah  the  son  of  Michael ;  and  with  him  four- 

9  score   males.     Of  the   sons  of  Joab,  Obadiah  the  son 
of  Jehiel ;   and  with  him   two   hundred   and   eighteen 

10  males.     And  of  the  sons  of  Shelomith^  the  son  of  Josi- 
phiah ;  and  with  him  an  hundred  and  threescore  males. 

11  And  of  the  sons  of  Bebai,  Zechariah  the  son  of  Bebai ; 

where  this  Hattush  is  grandson  of  Shecaniah.    '  Son  '  often  means 
grandson  and  descendant :  see  on  vii.  1-5. 

3-14.  The  lay  clans.  All  these  are  represented  in  the  list  of 
those  who  returned  with  Zerubbabel  in  537  (see  ii.  2  ff.)  with 
the  exception  of  Shecaniah  (ver.  5)  and  Shelomith  (ver.  10), 
whose  presence  in  this  list  as  clans  is  due  to  textual  corruption, 
see  on  verses  5  and  10. 

The  number  of  the  lay  clans  is  twelve,  corresponding  to  the 
twelve  tribes  from  which  the  nation  was  supposed  to  have  sprung  : 
see  on  ii.  2. 

3.  This  verse  must  begin  with  Of  the  sons  of  Parosh :  see  on 
ver.  2. 

males:    in  ch.  ii  and  Neh.  vii  females  are  included  in  the 
reckoning. 

5.  Read  and  render,  'Of  the  sons  of  Zattu,  Shecaniah  the  son  of 
Jahaziel' :  so  LXX  (not  Ltic.)^  i  Esd.  viii.  32.  Zattu  is  mentioned 
in  ii.  8  and  Neh.  vii.  13,  but  Shecaniah  occurs  in  no  list  as  a  clan. 

6.  fifty :    I  Esd.  viii,  32  gives  250. 

8.  fourscore  :  in  1  Esd.  viii.  34  it  is  70. 

9.  two  hundred  and  eig'hteen:    i  Esd.  viii.  35  gives  212. 

10.  Read  and  render,  '  And  of  the  sons  of  Banl,  Shelomith 
the  son  of  Josiphiah.'  So  LXX  and  i  Esd.  viii.  36.  Luc.  has 
a  conflate  reading,  '  And  the  son  of  Shelomith,  Banais  the  son  of 
Josiphiah.'  We  do  not  read  elsewhere  of  a  clan  Shelomith, 
though  of  one  Bani  we  read  in  ii.  10  and  Neh.  vii.  15  (Bennui). 


EZRA  8.  12-15.     E  125 

and  with  him   twenty  and  eight   males.     And   of  the  12 
sons  of  Azgad;  Johanan  the  son  of  Hakkatan  ;  and  with 
him  an  hundred  and  ten  males.     And  of  the  sons  of  13 
Adonikam^   that  zvere   the  last ;    and   these    are    their 
names^  Eliphelet,  Jeuel,  and  Shemaiah,  and  with  them 
threescore  males.     And  of  the  sons  of  Bigvai,,  Uthai  and  14 
^  Zabbud  \  and  with  them  seventy  males. 

And    I    gathered    them  together   to   the   river    that  15 
runneth  to  Ahava )  and  there  we  encamped  three  days  : 
and  I  viewed  the  people^  and  the  priests^  and  found  there 

*  Another  reading  is,  Zaccur, 

13  f.  In  previous  cases  after  the  name  of  the  clan  (house)  the 
head  of  it  is  mentioned.  In  ver.  13  three  names  are  given  instead 
of  the  usual  one,  and  in  ver.  14  two.  Moreover,  in  ver.  13  there 
occurs  a  Hebrew  word  rendered  in  the  E.W.  *  that  zvere  the 
last,'  but  which,  restoring  to  the  Hebrew  the  article  (found  in 
Luc.  and  i  Esd.  viii.  39),  is  more  accurately  rendered  *  those 
who  came  after.'  The  name  of  the  head  of  the  members  of  the 
clan  that  came  with  Ezra  was  unknown,  but  instead  the  historian 
gives  the  names  of  three  successive  heads  belonging  to  later 
generations.  The  same  word  is  probably  to  be  understood  in 
ver.  14,  where  two  later  heads  are  mentioned.  Perhaps  the 
Hebrew  text  is  corrupt,  or  the  word  may  have  in  this  register 
a  technical  sense  now  lost. 

The  commonest  view  is  that  the  elder  branch  of  the  clan  arrived 
with  Zerubbabel  (ii.  13)  and  that  now  the  younger  comes  with 
Ezra.     But  why  are  three  heads  mentioned  here  and  nowhere  else  ? 

15-36.    The    AsSEiMBLING    OF   THE    PaRTY  :    THE  JoURNEY:     THE 

Arrival  at  Jerusalem  (i  Esd.  viii.  41-64  (66)), 
15-20.   The  assembly.     Absence  of  Levites. 

15.  to  the  river  that  runneth  to  Ahava:  'to  the  running 
river  (i.  e.)  to  Ahava  ' ;  probably  in  contrast  to  the  stagnant  canals 
about  Babylon.  Where  this  running  river  exactly  was  we  have 
no  means  of  knowing,  though  it  must  have  been  a  branch  of  the 
Euphrates  and  in  the  vicinity  of  Babylon.  That  Ahava  was  a 
river  appears  from  verses  21,  31.  It  is  called  *Theras'  in 
I  Esd.  viii.  41.  The  cognate  Babylonian  word  (ttdru)  means  also 
*  canal '  which  Sayce  thinks  must  be  meant  here.  The  verb 
translated  '  run  '  means  lit.  '  to  come  '  oc  '  go.' 
I  viewed :  cf.  Neh.  viii.  7. 
people  :  i.  c.  the  laity. 


1,2.6  EZRA  8.  16,  17.     E 

16  none  of  the  sons  of  Levi.  Then  sent  I  for  Eliezer,  for 
Ariel,  for  Shemaiah^  and  for  Elnathan,  and  for  Jarib,  and 
for  Elnathan,  and  for  Nathan,  and  for  Zechariah,  and  for 
Meshullam,  chief  men ;  also  for  Joiarib;,  and  for  Elna- 

17  than,  ^  which  were  teachers.  And  ^I  sent  them  forth  unto 
Iddo  the  chief  at  the  place  Casiphia;  and  I  told  them 
what  they  should  say  unto  c  Iddo,  mid  his  brethren  the 

*  Or,  which  had  understanding  ^  Another  reading  is,  I  gave 

them  contmandment.        "  The  text  as  pointed  hsis,  Iddo,  his  brother. 

found  there  none  of  the  sons  of  Levi :  see  for  the  reason 
general  remarks  on  ii.  40-58.  According  to  i  Esd.  viii.  42  and 
Ltic.  there  were  neither  priests  nor  Levites,  but  the  context 
in  Ezra  (ver.  2,  &c.)  and  in  i  Esd.  (viii.  29,  &c.)  shows  that  priests 
were  with  Ezra  from  the  beginning.  The  fact  that  there  was  at  this 
time  as  well  as  at  the  time  of  the  first  expedition  under  Zerubbabel 
and  Jeshua  a  dearth  of  Levites  is  one  of  those  *  undesigned 
coincidences '  which  support  the  veracity  of  Ezra  ii  and  the 
present  context.  Had  Ezra's  work  followed  that  of  Nehemiah, 
as  V.  Hoonacker,  &c.,  hold,  the  same  conditions  are  less  likely  to 
have  presented  themselves,  the  distance  in  time  from  Cyrus 
being  80  and  140  years,  or  the  two  dates  of  Ezra's  arrival. 

16.  for :  omit  in  each  case.  The  preposition  (/)  so  translated  is  in 
Hebrew  often  and  in  Aramaic  regularly  used  to  introduce  the  accusa- 
tive  (see  Ges.-KautzschW  §  117  n.).  Ezra  sent  Eliezer,  Ariel,  &c. 
(v.  17),  to  Iddo,  &c.  So  Luc.j  Pesh.,  Vulg.,and  modern  commen- 
tators.    The  LXX  (not  Luc.)  and  i  Esdras  agree  with  the  E.VV. 

Elnathan:  the  double  mention  of  this  name  in  the  same 
verse  must  be  due  to  a  copyist's  error. 

teachers :  lit.  '  those  who  caused  to  understand.'  Dr.  Adolf 
Rosenzweig  ^,  followed  hesitatingly  by  Bertholet,  thinks  that  there 
was  in  Babylon  a  class  distinct  from  priests  and  Levites,  whose 
special  province  it  was  to  teach  the  law.  But  the  fact  that  in 
almost  every  case  this  very  word  is  used  in  describing  the  work 
of  the  Levite  goes  far  to  show  that  no  special  class  of  the  kind 
indicated  existed.  See  Neh.  viii.  7,  9  ;  i  Chron.  xv.  22 ;  xxv.  8, 
&c.  Besides,  if  there  were  such  a  separate  body  of  officials,  why 
have  we  no  clear  reference  to  it?  The  same  word  in  Neh.  viii. 2, 
x,  29,  means  'those  who  discern.' 

17.  I  sent,  &c. :  render,  '  I  gave  them  a  commission  (or  *com- 
mandment ')  to  Iddo,  head  over  (the  Jewish  colony)  at  the  place 
Casiphia  (a  Jewish  centre   in  Babylon)  ;    and  I  told  them  (lit. 

^  Das  Jahrhundert  nach  dem  baby  Ion,  Exile,  Berlin,  1885. 


EZRA  8.  18-20.     E  127 

Nethinim,  at  the  place  Casiphia,  that  they  should  bring 
unto  us  ministers  for  the  house  of  our  God.    And  accord-  18 
ing  to  the  good  hand  of  our  God  upon  us  they  brought 
us  ^  a  man  of  discretion,  of  the  sons  of  Mahli,  the  son  of 
Levi,  the  son  of  Israel ;  and  Sherebiah,  with  his  sons  and 
his  brethren,  eighteen  ;  and  Hashabiah,  and  with  him  19 
Jeshaiah  of  the  sons  of  Merari,  his  brethren  and  their 
sons,  twenty ;  and  of  the  Nethinim,  whom  David  and  20 
the  princes  had  given  for  the  service  of  the  Levites, 

*  Or,  Ishsechel 

'  put  into  their  mouth,'  cf.  Exod.  iv.  15)  what  they  were  to  say 
to  Iddo  and  his  brethren  the  Levites  and  the  Nethinim,'  &c. 

The  Hebrew  text  must  be  changed,  for  as  it  stands  it  means 
'  to  Iddo  and  his  brother  the  Nethinim.'  The  changes  to  this 
from  the  fuller  text,  implied  in  the  above  translation,  could  be 
easily  made  by  a  copyist,  as  a  student  of  the  original  will  see. 

We  do  not  know  anything  further  than  this  verse  tells  us  of 
this  Iddo  or  of  the  Jewish  settlement  at  Casiphia. 

ministers :  the  word  is  general,  and  can  include  priests 
(Num.  iii.  6,  &c.)  as  well  as  Levites,  Nethinim,  &c.  The  LXX 
(not  Luc),  misreading  one  Hebrew  consonant,  reads  'singers.' 

18.  according"  to  the  good  hand  of  our  God :  see  on  vii.  6. 

a  man  of  discretion:  read  '  Ishsechel'  as  R.  Vm.,  a  proper 
name  parallel  to  Sherebiah.  For  a  similar  proper  name  see 
2  Sam.  X.  6,  Ish-tob  (A.  V.),  not  *  men  of  Tob  '  as  R.  V.  (see  Kittel 
and  Budde  on).  Why  call  an  unnamed  Levite  'a  discreet  man '  ? 
Were  the  other  Levites  'indiscreet'? 

Malili  was  son  of  Merari  (Exod.  vi.  16.  19)  and  therefore 
grandson  of  Levi.     For  'son'  (ben)  =  descendant  see  on  vii.  1-5. 

19.  with  him  :  we  have  here  simply  the  sign  of  the  accusa- 
tive (they  brought, .  .  Jeshaiah),  with  the  wrong  vowels  inserted. 
So  LXX  (not  Luc),  i  Esdras,  Guthe,  Bertholet. 

his  (brethren)  :  read  '  their ' :  so  i  Esd.  {Luc)  viii.  47,  Guthe, 
Bertholet;  cf.  ^ their  sons.'' 

20.  ITethinim :  see  on  ii.  43-54. 

given :  the  Hebrew  word  {nathan)  is  used  with  a  reference 
to  the  current  view  of  the  etymology  of  Nethinim  (persons  given 
or  devoted  to  God). 

service :  i.  e.  religious  service.  The  same  Hebrew  word 
has  this  sense  in  Exod,  xxx.  16  and  xxxviii.  21.  The  Nethinim 
were  to  help  the  Levites  in  the  work  of  the  sanctuary,  see  Ezek. 
xlix.  9  14  and  on  ii.  40-55. 


128  EZRA  8.  2r,  2  2.     E 

two  hundred  and  twenty  Nethinim :  all  of  them  were 
21  expressed  by  name.  Then  I  proclaimed  a  fast  there,  at 
the  river  Ahava,  that  we  might  humble  ourselves  before 
our  God^  to  seek  of  him  a  straight  way,  for  us,  and  for 
2  2  our  litde  ones,  and  for  all  our  substance.  For  I  was 
ashamed  to  ask  of  the  king  a  band  of  soldiers  and  horse- 
men to  help  us  against  the  enemy  in  the  way  :  because 
we  had  spoken  unto  the  king,  saying.  The  hand  of  our 

expressed:  lit.  *  perforated,  punctured,  marked  with  a  point.' 
See  Lev.  xxiv.  ii  (cf.  Dillmann  and  Baentsch  on)  ;  Num.  i.  17  ; 
I  Chron.  xii.  31,  &c.  The  sense  seems  to  be  that  in  a  complete 
register  the  names  of  these  persons  were  ticked  off  to  indicate 
the  presence  of  the  persons.^  Rabbinical  writers  say  the  verb 
came  to  mean  simply  *to  name,'  and  it  is  so  rendered  here  by 
the  Syr.,  Vulg.,  'were  called  by  their  names.'     See  on  x.  16. 

21-30.  Preparations forthe journey.  The  incidents  related  inverses 
15-30  must  have  taken  place  during  the  three  days  of  encampment 
at  the  river  Ahava  (ver.  15),  i.  e.  from  9th  to  12th  Nisan  (ver.  31). 

21-23.  The  fast.  Fasting  is  here  a  sign  of  humiliation  before 
God  and  an  acknowledgement  of  dependence  upon  Him  during 
the  journey  about  to  be  begun  :  see  Dan.  x.  12 ;  Ps.  xxxv.  13. 
Similarly,  before  going  forth  to  war,  it  was  the  custom  to  offer 
sacrifice  to  Yahweh  (i  Sam.  vii.  9 ;  i  Mace.  iii.  47,  &c.).  The  fasting 
and  the  sacrificing  constituted  a  prayer  for  help. 

21.  Z  proclaimed  a  fast:  see  x.  6;  Neh.  viii.  i  ;  2  Chron. 
XX.  3;  Isa.  i.  13;  Joel  i.  14,  &c.  The  verb  here  (  =  to  'call  out') 
is  particularly  used  of  proclaiming  feast  and  fast  days.  See  i.  i 
for  another  verb  which  with  a  noun  is  translated  '  made  proclama- 
tion '  (see  on  i.  i). 

a  straight  way :  i.  e.  a  prosperous  journey ;  see  Isa.  xl.  3, 
which  is  probably  referred  to,  and  where  the  same  word  occurs. 

little  ones:  render,  'wives  and  little  ones.'  The  Hebrew 
word  used  has,  according  to  Dillmann  (see  on  Exod.  xii,  37), 
the  sense  '  wives  and  children '  in  the  Pentateuch  source  E,  and 
it  is  perfectly  right,  with  Bertholet,  to  give  it  that  wider  sense 
here.  See  Holzinger,  Hexateuch,  p.  287  ;  see  also  Num.  xxxii.  16, 
17,  24;  Judges  xviii.  21. 

substance  :  see  on  i.  4,  where  the  word  is  translated  '  goods.' 

22.  a  band,  &c.  :  Nehemiah  did  not  scruple  to  accept  such 
protection:  Neh.  ii.  9, 

enemy :  i.  e.  Bedouin  and  other  robbers  such  as  travellers 
encounter  to-day.     No  special  foe  is  thought  of. 

*  See  Additional  Notes,  p.  363. 


EZRA  8.  23-26.     E  129 

God  is  upon  all  them  that  seek  him,  for  good  ;  but  his 
power  and  his  wrath  is  against  all  them  that  forsake  him. 
So  we  fasted  and  besought  our  God  for  this  :  and  he  was  23 
intreated  of  us.     Then  I  separated  twelve  of  the  chiefs  of  24 
the  ^  priests,  ^even  Sherebiah,  Hashabiah,  and  ten  of  their 
brethren  with  them,  and  weighed  unto  them  the  silver,  25 
and  the  gold,  and  the  vessels,  even  the  offering  for  the 
house  of  our  God,  which  the  king,  and  his  counsellors, 
and  his  princes,  and  all  Israel  there  present,  had  offered  : 
I  even  weighed  into  their  hand  six  hundred  and  fifty  26 
talents  of  silver,  and  silver  vessels  an  hundred  talents ;  of 

•  In  Neh.  xii.  24,  Levitcs.  ^  Or,  besides 

The  hand  of  our  Gol;  see  on  vii.  6. 

seek :  the  Hebrew  word  here  denotes  in  general  to  seek  for 
something  tliat  has  been  lost,  and  not  to  seek  to  know  about  :  see 
on  iv.  2  and  vii.  10. 

24-30,   Guardians  appointed  for  the  gifts  and  offerings. 

24.  Render,  '  Then  I  set  apart  twelve  of  the  chiefs  of  the 
priests,  together  with  Sherebiah,  Hashabiah,  and  ten  of  their 
brethren  with  them.'  Ezra  selected  two  groups  of  twelve,  one 
being  priests,  the  other  Levites,  as  is  implied  in  ver.  30,  On  the 
number  12  see  p.  51. 

chiefs  of  the  priests:  not  high-priests, but  leading  members 
of  the  priestly  class:  lit.  'princes  of  the  priests.' 

even:  for  the  prep.  J)  in  Hebrew,  which  introduces  the 
accusative  see  on  ver.  i6  ;  but  read  here  with  i  Esd.  'and'  or  'in 
addition  to'  I'see  R.Vm.). 

Sherebiah  and  Hashabiah  were  Levites  not  priests. 

25.  See  on  vii.  15  f.  and  19. 

weigrhed:  gold  and  silver  coins  are  even  now  valued  in 
banks,  &;c.,  by  weight ;  but  in  ancient  times  coins  were  not  used, 
and  the  precious  metals  were  weighed.  Shekel  means  literally 
what  is  weighed  out. 

the  offering:  lit.  'what  is  lifted  up,'  so  'a  present,' 
a  word  much  used  in  the  P  code,  but  hardly  if  at  all  before  D. 
It  denotes  in  a  general  way  a  sacred  gift,  an  offering  to  God,  &c. 
See  Deut   xii.  6,  11  ;  Ezek.  xliv.  30,  &c. 

there  present :  Heb.  '  that  could  be  found,'  i.  e.  that  happened 
to  be  present  ;  see  on  Esther  i,  5. 

26.  six  hundred  and  fifty  talents  of  silver:  i.e.  nearly 
a  quarter  of  a  million  pounds  sterling  (see  on  vii.  2a).  A  silver 
talent  had  the  value  of  about  £360. 

K 


130  EZRA  8.  27-29.     E 

27  gold  an  hundred  talents  ;  and  twenty  bowls  of  gold,  of  a 
thousand  darics ;   and  two  vessels  of  fine  bright  brass, 

a8  precious  as  gold.  And  I  said  unto  them.  Ye  are  holy 
unto  the  Lord,  and  the  vessels  are  holy  ;  and  the  silver 
and  the  gold  are  a  freewill  offering  unto  the  Lord,  the 

29  God  of  your  fathers.  Watch  ye,  and  keep  them,  until  ye 
weigh  them  before  the  chiefs  of  the  priests  and  the 
Levites,  and  the  princes  of  the  fathers'  houses  of  Israel, 
at  Jerusalem,  in  the  chambers  of  the  house  of  the  Lord. 

(and  silver  vessels)  an  hundred  talents  :  the  value  of  the 
silver  would  be  approximately  £360.000. 

of  g^old  an  hundred  talents :  a  gold  talent  had  the  value  of 
something  over  £6,000.  The  sense  intended  here  is,  however, 
probably  the  value  of  100  talents  of  silver  (see  above)  in  nuggets 
of  gold  :  so  Meyer  (see  op.  cit.,  p.  69).  The  values  given  seem  to 
us  very  high,  but  they  are  not  at  all  improbable,  according 
to  Meyer,  who  is  not  a  theologian  but  perhaps  the  greatest  living 
historian  of  Persia :  see  on  vii.  22. 

27.  bowls  of  gfold  :  see  on  i.  10, 
darics :  see  on  ii.  69. 

28.  The  bearers  are  holy,   and  what  they  bear  with  them  is 
holy  too. 

the  God  of  your  fathers :  see  on  vii.  28. 

29.  chiefs  of  the  priests  and  the  Zaevites :  see  on  ver.  24. 
princes,  &c.  :    read  with  ||  i  Esd.,  Guthe,  Bertholet  :  *  the 

heads  of  the  fathers'  houses '  :  see  on  i.  5  and  cf.  iii.  12 ;  i  Chron. 
xxix.  6.  The  same  Hebrew  word  is  rendered  in  the  R.V. 
chiefs  and  princes.  The  priests  and  Levites  in  charge  of  the 
gifts  on  the  journey  (ver.  24)  were,  on  reaching  Jerusalem,  to  hand 
them  over  to  the  representatives  of  the  priests,  Levites,  and  laity 
already  in  that  city.  We  have  perhaps  to  conceive  of  a  college  or 
governing  body  appointed  by  each  of  the  classes  mentioned. 

chambers  :  it  is  better  to  keep  this  term  for  the  Hebrew 
word  {sela')  which  stands  for  the  rooms  built  immediately  in  con- 
tact with  the  Temple  (see  i  Kings  vi.  5  ;  i  Chron.  xxxviii,  12),  and 
to  employ  the  word  '  cell '  for  the  Hebrew  word  {liskhah)  in  the 
present  verse  (so  DB.  iv.  699**,  art.  '  Temple ').  There  were  thirty 
of  these  'cells'  around  the  outer  walls  of  the  outer  court  of  Eze- 
kiel's  temple  :  see  Ezek.  xl.  17-47,  xlii.  1  fF. ;  and  cf.  Ezra  x.  6 
Neh.  X.  37,  xiii.  4-7  and  i  Chron.  ix.  26,  They  were  used 
store-rooms  for  Temple  vessels,  provisions,  &c.,  but  priests  resided 
in  some  of  them  :  see  x.  6  :   Ezek.  xl.  46,  &c. 


as    1 

1 


EZRA  8.  30-34.     E  131 

So  the  priests  and  the  Levites  received  the  weight  of  the  30 
silver  and  the  gold,  and  the  vessels,  to  bring  them  to 
Jerusalem  unto  tlie  house  of  our  God. 

Then   we  departed   from  the  river  of  Ahava  on  the  31 
twelfth  day  of  the  first  month,  to  go  unto  Jerusalem  :  and 
the  hand  of  our  God  was  upon  us,  and  he  delivered  us 
from  the  hand  of  the  enemy  and  the  lier  in  wait  by  the 
way.     And  we  came  to  Jerusalem,  and  abode  there  three  32 
days.     And   on  the  fourth  day  was  the  silver  and  the  33 
gold  and  the  vessels  weighed  in  the  house  of  our  God 
» into  the  hand  of  Meremoth  the  son  of  Uriah  the  priest ; 
and  with  him  was  Eleazar  the  son  of  Phinehas  ;  and  with 
them  was  Jozabad  the  son  of  Jeshua,  and  Noadiah  the 
son  of  Binnui,  the  Levites ;  the  whole  by  number  and  34 
by  weight :  and  all  the  weight  was  written  at  that  time. 
^  Or,  by 

30.  priests  .  .  .  Iievites :   see  on  ver.  24. 

31-34.   The  departure  ;  arrival  at  Jerusalem  ;  delivery  of  the  gifts. 

31.  first  montli:  i.e.  Nisan,  about  our  April, 
hand,  &c.  :  see  on  vii.  6. 

enemy  :  see  on  ver.  22,  and  cf.  next  clause. 

32.  we  came:  for  the  direction  of  the  journey  see  on  vii.  9. 
three  dasrs:    Nehemiah   and  his  party  also  rested  for  three 

daj's  after  reaching  Jerusalem:  see  Neh.  ii.  11. 

33.  the  house,  &c.  :  i.  e.  into  the  cells  or  store-  rooms  :  see  on 
ver.  29. 

Meremoth:  see  Neh.  iii.  4,  21.  There  was  some  doubt  as  to 
the  priestly  origin  of  the  family  {koz)  when  Zerubbabel  and  his  party 
reached  Jerusalem  :  see  Neh.  vii.  63  ;  but  see  i  Chron.  xxix.  ao. 

Eleazar :  see  on  viii.  2. 

Jozabad:  mentioned  in  x.  23  and  in  Neh.  vii.  7  (see  on)  as 
a  Levite. 

Noadiah:  not  mentioned  elsewhere,  but  his  father  or  an- 
cestor Binnui  is  named  in  Neh.  x.  10  and  xii.  8  as  a  Levite. 

It  will  be  seen  that,  as  the  gifts  and  offerings  were  in  charge  of 
twelve  priests  and  twelve  Levites  duringthe  journey  (see  on  ver.  24'!. 
so  they  are  received  at  the  Temple  by  two  priests  and  two  Levites. 

34.  by  number:  i.  e.  the  vessels. 

by  weight :  i.  e.  the  gold  and  silver. 

at   that   time :     to  be  joined  with    the    next    verse,  as    by 

K   2 


132  EZRA  8.  36,  3<5.     E 

35  The  children  of  the  captivity,  which  were  come  out  of 
exile,  offered  burnt  offerings  unto  the  God  of  Israel, 
twelve  bullocks  for  all  Israel,  ninety  and  six  rams, 
seventy  and  seven  lambs,  twelve  he^goats  for  a  sin  offer- 

36  ing  :  all  this  was  a  burnt  offering  unto  the  Lord.  And 
they  delivered  the  king's  commissions  unto  the  king's 
satraps,  and  to  the  governors  beyond  the  river  :  and  they 
furthered  the  people  and  the  house  of  God. 

the  LXX  (not  Luc,  nor  i  Esd.).  There  were  no  punctuation 
marks  in  Hebrew  when  Ezra-Nehemiah  was  written,  though  the 
recently  discovered  Aramaic  Papyri  show  that  words  were  usually 
separated. 

35.  Sacrifice  of  thanksgiving. 

children  of  the  captivity :  Ezra  and  his  party  just  returned 
from  exile  :  see  on  ii.  i  and  iv.  i. 

offered,  &:c.  :  see  vi.  17,  where  we  read  of  the  very  similar 
sacrifices  offered  by  Zerubbabel  and  his  party  when  the  Temple  was 
dedicated. 

'btUlocks  .  .  .  rams  .  .  .  lambs :  see  on  vi.  17.  The  number 
of  these  offered  was  larger  on  the  occasion  implied  in  vi.  17. 

twelve  he-gfoats  :  see  on  vi.  17. 

sin  offerinGf:  see  on  vi.  17. 

all  this  was  a  "burnt  offering" ;  i.  e.  was  wholly  consumed, 

36.  the  king's  commissions  :  see  especiall^'^  vii.  21  f.,  24. 
satraps  :    the  word  in  the  M.T.  (from  which  through   the 

Greek  our  word  is  derived)  is  Persian,  and  occurs  nowhere  else 
in  Ezra-Nehemiah,  but  it  is  found  thrice  in  Esther  and  eight  times  in 
Daniel.  There  w^as  but  one  satrap  in  Transpotamia  (see  on  iv. 
10),  but  the  heads  of  contiguous  satrapies  (Egypt,  &c.)  would  need 
to  be  informed  of  the  king's  instructions.  Darius  divided  his 
dominions  into  twenty  provinces  or  satrapies  :  see  on  Esther  i.  i. 

governors  :  sub-satraps,  rulers  of  parts  of  the  Transpotamian 
satrapj--,  Samaria,  Judah,  &c.  But  the  same  Heb.  and  Aram,  word 
{pekhah,  cf.  Persian />«s// a)  has  the  meaning  'satrap'  in  v.  6,  vi.  6, 
Neh.  iii.  7. 

satraps  and  governors  occur  together,  and  therefore  with  a 
different  meaning,  besides  here  in  Dan.  iii.  2;  Esther  iii.  12,  viii.9, 
ix.  3.  The  word  for  *  governor  '  has  its  narrow  sense  in  Hag.  i.  i, 
10,  ii.  I,  21  (Zerubbabel,  the  sub-satrap  or  governor  of  Judah). 

Meyer  1  says  that  the  Assyrian  pakhatj  Hebrew  and  Aramaic 
pekhah,  was  in  the  Persian  period  the  usual  term  (so  Greek 
(napxos)  representing  the  Persian  for  '  satrap,' the  latter  occurring 

^  Entstehung,  31  f.  (n.). 


EZRA  9.     E  133 

only  in  O.T.  writings  of  the  Seleucid  period  (Daniel,  Esther). 
But  what  of  the  present  passage  ?  He  is  hardly  right  in  his  state- 
ment that  pckltah  has  this  wider  meaning  (as  satrap)  throughout 
Ezra-Nehemiah,  Haggai,  and  Mai.  i.  8.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it 
never  has  this  sense  in  Haggai  or  Malachi,  and  but  occasionally 
in  Ezra-Nehemiah  :    see  on  Neh.  ii.  9. 

IX  f.  (i  Esd.  viii.  68-ix.  36). 

Ezra's  Grief  at  hearing  of  the  Mixed  Marriages  and  the 

Measures  he  took  to  put  an  End  to  them. 

According  to  Torrey  ^  and  Kent  ^  (who  slavishly  follows  him  at 
almost  every  point)  Neh.  vii.  70-73*  joins  immediately  on  to  Ezra  viii. 
It  is,  however,  quite  clear  that  these  verses  were  copied  in  connexion 
with  the  preceding  list  from  the  document  which  has  its  primary 
place  in  ch.  ii  (see  introductory  remarks  to  that  chapter) :  so 
Schrader,  R.  Smend,  Ryssel,  Kuenen,  Stade,  Cornill,  Driver, 
Konig,  Kosters,  Ryle,  Baudissin,  Bertholet,  Siegfried,  &c. 

Torrey  and  Kent  make  Neh.  vii.  73^-x  (with  some  excepted 
parts)  follow  Neh.  vii.  73*.  The  sequence  of  events  would  in  that 
case  be  as  follows  : — 

1.  The  arrival  at  Jerusalem  ;  Ezra  and  the  incidents  which  im- 
mediately followed,  Ezra  vii.  32-36  +  Neh.  vii.  70-73*. 

2.  The  public  reading  of  the  law,  Neh.  vii.  73''-viii.  1-12. 

3.  Observance  of  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles,  Neh.  viii.  13-18. 

4.  Ezra's  crusade  against  mixed  marriages,  Ezraix-x+i  Esd. 
viii.  68-ix.  36. 

I  Esd.  and  Josephus  (who,  however,  generally  follows  the 
former)  place  No.  4  second  in  the  above  sequence  of  events,  the 
order  then  being  (using  the  above  numbers)  i,  4,  2,  3. 

Torrey  says  that  on  arriving  at  Jerusalem  the  first  thing 
which  Ezra  was  Hkely  to  do  was  to  read  the  law.  He  was  an 
expert  in  the  law  of  Moses  (Ezra  vii.  6),  and  had  brought  it  with 
him  (ver.  14)  that  he  might  teach  and  apply  it  (verses  25  f.}. 

According  to  the  M.  T.,  i  Esd.  and  Josephus,  Ezra's  first  experi- 
ence on  reaching  Jerusalem  (after  what  is  related  in  Ezra  viii. 31-36) 
was  to  be  informed  of  the  mixed  marriages,  whereupon  he  deals 
with  the  same.  Then,  according  to  i  Esd.  and  Josephus,  the  law 
was  read.  That  is,  i  Esd.  and  Josephus  place  Neh.  vii.  73*-x 
immediately  after  Ezra  x,  not  as  Torrey  after  Ezra  vii.  It  is 
assumed  here  that  Neh.  vii.  73''-x  is  in  its  wrong  place,  for  it  is 
Ezra's  history  that  it  gives,  and  it  belongs  therefore  to  Ezra  (see 
on  Neh.  vii.  73^  &c.). 

What  is  most  likely  to  have  happened  immediately  after  Ezra 
had  fairly  settled  down  in  Jerusalem  ?  Torrey  says  that  Ezra 
would  read  and  explain  the  law  which  he  had  brought  with  him. 

^  Composition,  &c.,  29  ff. 

'  Israel's  Historical  and  Biographical  Narratives,  369  ff. 


134  EZRA  9.  J.     E 

9       Now  when  these  things  were  done,  the  princes  drew 

It  seems  to  the  present  writer  much  more  probable  that  on  dis- 
covering how  his  fellow  countr3-men  had  intermarried  with  the 
heathen,  he  would  at  once  seek  to  remove  this  evil,  for  it  ate  at 
the  very  root  of  Judaism  as  then  conceived.  What  is  the  use  of  a 
Jewish  law  unless  you  have  a  pure  Jewish  people?  Ezra  could 
not  but  have  perceived  the  evil  immediately  after  he  had  begun 
to  look  around,  even  if  the  princes  (or  nobles?  see  on  Ezra  ix.  i) 
had  not  informed  him.  It  is  hard  to  conceive  of  the  events  of 
Neh.  vii,  73'^-viii.  18  happening  without  the  most  distant  reference 
to  what  caused  Ezra  the  greatest  surprise  and  the  pro foundest  grief. 

On  the  contrary,  having  discovered  the  extent  to  which  his 
people  had  departed  from  the  faith  and  practice  of  their  fathers, 
and  having  induced  them  to  live  a  separate  life  and  thus  to  consti- 
tute a  Jewish  community,  a  church  nation,  the  next  natural  step 
would  be  to  read  to  this  regenerate  society  the  laws  which  belonged 
to  them,  and  which  were  intended  for  their  guidance.  He  must 
have  a  Jewish  people  before  he  will  teach  the  law  which  was  held 
to  belong  pre-eminently  to  that  people.  In  addition  to  any  force 
that  may  lie  in  the  above  a  prion  reasoning  as  to  what  was  likely 
to  take  place  we  have  the  testimony  of  i  Esd.  and  Josephus  as  to 
what  actually  occurred.     See  further  on  Neh.  vii.  73^,  &c. 

1-5.  Ezra's  astonishment  and  grief  at  hearing  of  the  mixed 
marriages. 

1.  wlieu  these  thingrs  were  done:  lit.  'had  been  finished,' 
'  brought  to  an  end.'  The  same  phrase  almost  verbatim  occurs  in 
I  Chron.  xxxi.  i,  and  the  verb  in  a  similar  form  in  2  Chron.  xx.  23, 
xxiv.  14,  due  to  the  fact  that  the  Chronicler  copied  the  older 
narrative  in  the  present  connexion. 

By  *  these  things '  we  are  to  understand  the  events  recorded 
in  ch.  viii.  We  have  obviously  to  think  of  a  period  immediately 
following  Ezra's  arrival  to  account  for  his  surprise  on  hearing 
of  the  mixed  marriages.  We  have  other  indications  of  time 
in  vii.  8,  viii.  33,  and  x.  8  f.  Inasmuch  as  Ezra  arrived  and  the 
sacred  gifts  were  handed  over  to  the  priests  and  Levites  in  the 
fifth  month  (vii.  8),  and  the  general  assembly  to  deal  with  the 
mixed  marriages  met  in  the  ninth  month  (x.  8  f.),  we  have  in  the 
present  verse  to  think  of  a  time  somewhere  between  the  fifth  and 
ninth  month  of  the  year  458  b.  c. 

princes  :  Hebrew  sarim,  the  national  leaders  in  civil  and 
military  matters,  not  necessarily  members  of  the  royal  family  ;  cf. 
the  strict  sense  of  the  English  word.  In  the  post-exilic  Jewish 
community  the  Hebrew  word  came  probably  to  denote  the  heads 
of  the  Jerusalem  clans,  priestly,  Levitical,  and  laj'.  See  G.  A. 
Smith,  Jerusalem^  i.  382  ff.,  where  the  now  common  view  is 
defended  that  5f7m;i  =  government  officials. 


EZRA  9.  2.     E  135 

near  unto  me,  saying,  The  people  of  Israel,  and  the 
priests  and  the  Levites,  have  not  separated  themselves 
from  the  peoples  of  the  lands,  doifig  according  to  their 
abominations,  even  of  the  Canaanites,  the  Hittites,  the 
Perizzites,  the  Jebusites,  the  Ammonites,  the  Moabites, 
the  Egyptians,  and  the  Amorites.  For  they  have  taken  2 
of  their  daughters  for  themselves  and  for  their  sons ;  so 
that  the  holy  seed   have   mingled  themselves  with  the 

The  people  of  Israel,  &c.  :  render,  '  The  people  (including) 
Israel  (  =  the  common  people),  the  priests  and  the  Levites,'  &c. 
The  translation  *  people  of  Israel '  is  allowed  by  the  Hebrew  ac- 
cording to  a  rather  rare  construction  (' nom.  apposition  '),  but  in 
any  case  three  classes  are  mentioned.     See  on  x.  25. 

the  peoples  of  the  lands  :  see  on  iii.  3.  The  races  men- 
tioned must  not  be  literally  understood.  They  are  given  merely 
as  samples  of  what  is  meant.  There  could  be  no  Hittites  now  in 
Palestine,  and  hardly  Perizzites  or  Jebusites :  on  the  last  see  p.  233. 

Here  it  is  implied  that  marriage  with  any  non- Jewish  people 
was  forbidden.  The  older  law  prohibited  marriage  with  Canaan- 
ites, Ammonites,  and  Moabites  (see  Exod.  xxxiv.  i6  ;  Deut.  vii.  3, 
xxiii.  3  ;  cf.  Neh.  xiii.  i),  but  allowed  marriage  with  Edomites 
and  Egyptians  (Deut.  xxiii.  2).  The  law  in  Deut.  xxi.  10  f.  per- 
mitted marriage  with  non-Jews  who  were  not  Canaanites :  see  on 
vi.  21.  Ezra  must  have  felt  that  the  continued  existence  of  Judaism 
rendered  it  necessary  to  put  an  end  to  the  intermarriage  of  Jews 
with  others  :  cf.  Ezek.  xliv. 

doing'  .  .  .  abominations:  render, '  as  regards  their  abomina- 
tions.' This  last  word  denotes  here  not  idolatrous  practices  as 
usually  (Deut.  xviii.  9  ;  i  Kings  xiv.  24,  &c.),  but  the  mixed 
marriages. 

even  of :  better,  '^viz.'  In  Hebrew  a  preposition  (/)  is  used 
which  commonly  introduces  an  enumeration  of  details. 

Canaanites:  dwellers  in  the  lowlands  west  of  the  central 
mountain  range  of  Palestine,  though  the  word  cannot  be  proved 
from  either  Heb.  or  Aram,  etymology  to  mean  '  lowlander.'  In  J 
and  corresponding  parts  of  the  O.  T.,  as  in  the  Tel-el-Amarna 
tablets,  Canaanites  are  the  original  inhabitants  of  West  Palestine 
(see  Amos  ii.  9),  a  sense  in  which  in  E  and  D  (Deut,  i.  27,  &c.), 
as  generally  in  Babylonian,  the  word  *  Amorites  '  is  used. 

the  Amorites :  read  (with  i  Esd.  viii.  66)  '  the  Edomites.' 
2.  have  taken:  as  wives.     So  x.  44  ;   2  Chron.  xi.  ai,  xiii.  ar. 

holy  seed:  i.e.  the  people  (so  often  in  Heb.)  separated,  in 
theory,  to  God  :  see  Isa.  vi.  13  ;  and  cf.  Exod.  xix.  5  f. ;  i  Pet.  ii.  5. 


136  EZRA  9.  3,4.     E 

peoples  of  the  lands :  yea^  the  hand  of  the  princes  and 

3  ^  rulers  hath  been  ^  chief  in  this  trespass.  And  when  I 
heard  this  thing,  I  rent  my  garment  and  my  mantle,  and 
plucked  off  the  hair  of  my  head  and  of  my  beard,  and 

4  sat  down  astonied.  Then  were  assembled  unto  me  every 
one  that  trembled  at  the  words  of  the  God  of  Israel,  be- 
cause of  the  trespass  of  them  of  the  captivity ;  and  I  sat 

""  Or,  deputies  ^  Or j  first 

mingled  themselves :  by  marriage.  The  same  verb  in  the 
same  sense  occurs  in  Ps.  cvi.  34  f. 

peoples  of  the  lands  :  see  on  iii.  8. 

princes  :  see  on  ver.  i. 

rulers  :  the  Hebrew  word  here  is  probably  a  marginal  gloss  : 
only  one  word  occurs  in  the  LXX,  though  in  i  Esd.  viii.  70  (*  rulers 
and  great  men')  and  in  the  Syr.  ('elders  and  Levites ')  there 
are  two,  as  in  the  M.  T.  The  Hebrew  word  here  is  a  transliterated 
form  of  the  Assyrian  Shakmi  (a  general,  a  governor  of  a  province) 
and  is  in  Ezra-Nehemiah  almost  certainly  a  synonym  for  the  word 
translated  'princes':  so  Meyer,  Entstehung,  133  ff.,  Bertholet, 
Benzinger,  Bib.  Aych.<'^\  263. 

3.  I  rent  my  (inner)  garment  and  my  (outer")  mantle :  for 
similar  manifestations  of  grief  and  indignation  see  Gen.  xxxvii.  29, 
34;  Lev.  X.  6;  Joshua  vii ;  Judges  xi.  35  ;  Job  i.  20,  &c. ;  and 
Esther  iv.  i. 

and  plucked  off  (Heb.  some  of)  the  hair  of  my  head :  bald- 
ness is  a  sign  of  deep  sorrow  in  Job  i.  20;  Ezek.  vii.  18;  Amos 
viii.  10,  but  in  these  cases  the  hair  is  apparently  shaved  off  (see 
especially  Job  i.  2o\  See  Homer's  Odyssey,  x  end  :  ^  They  sat 
-  .  .  lamented  and  plucked  each  his  hair.'  Plucking  off  the  hair  of 
another  is  a  sign  of  indignation  (Neh.  xiii.  25)  or  of  cruelty  (Isa.  1.  6). 

my  beard :  plucking  the  beard  as  a  sign  of  grief,  nowhere 
else  mentioned  in  the  O.  T. 

astonied :  Old  English  for  '  astonished '  in  the  sense  of  being 
'bewildered,'  '  dumbfounded,'  which  is  a  common  meaning  of  the 
Hebrew  word  in  either  the  transitive  (Dan.  xi.  31)  or  intransitive 
(Job  xxi.  5  ;  Ezek.  iii.  15)  sense. 

4.  every  one  that  trembled,  &c.  :  see  x.  3 ;  Isa.  Ixvi.  2. 

at  the  words,  &c.  :  i.  e.  at  the  consequences  of  infringing 
enactments  on  the  Divine  law  forbidding  the  sin  in  question. 

because  of  the  trespass  of  them  of  the  captivity  :  these 
words  carry  with  them  the  implication  that,  contrary  to  Kosters' 
view,  there  was  a  return  before  that  of  Ezra  :  see  Introd.  p.  23  ff., 
and  for  trespass  see  on  x.  2. 


EZRA  9.  5.     E  137 

astonied  until  the  evening  oblation.     And  at  the  even-  5 
ing  oblation  I  arose  up  from  my  ^  humiliation,  even  with 
my  garment  and  my  mantle  rent ;  and  I  fell  upon  my 
knees,  and  spread  out  my  hands  unto  the  Lord  my  God  ; 

*  Or,  fasting 

astonied :  see  on  v.  3. 

until  the  evening:  oblation :  i.e.  until  the  evening.  Similarly 
in  I  Kings  xviii.  29  and  Judges  ix.  i.  See  on  iii.  5.  In  2  Kings 
xvi.  15  we  read  of  the  morning  burnt  offering  (flesh)  and  of  the 
evening  meal  (vegetable)  offering.  The  latter  is  the  word  em- 
ployed here,  and,  denoting  primarily  a  gift,  is  used  for  a  sacrifice 
of  any  kind.  It  came  to  denote  specially  the  meal  or  vegetable  offer- 
ings which  in  post-exilic  times  (P)  accompanied  the  burnt  offering 
(see  Exod.  xxix.  42  ;  Num.  xxviii.  3-8). 

In  late  pre-exilic  times  the  minkhah  or  meal  offering  was 
presented  in  the  evening  (see  2  Kings  xvi.  15  ;  cf.  i  Kings  xviii. 
29?  36).  This  custom  seems  to  be  implied  in  Neh.  x.  33  (34),  see 
on.  The  exact  time  of  this  sacrifice  was  perhaps  that  called  in 
later  Hterature  'between  the  two  evenings,'  i.e.  (probably)  be- 
tween the  beginning  of  sunset  and  dark  (see  Exod,  xii,  6  and 
Num.  xxviii.  4).  According  to  Ezekiel's  programme  (Ezek.  xlvi. 
13-15)  the  burnt  and  meal  offerings  were  to  be  assigned  to  the 
morning  alone.  The  later  custom  presented  a  burnt  offering,  as 
also  a  meal  and  a  drink  offering  (as  the  accompaniment  of  the 
first),  both  morning  and  evening :  see  Exod.  xxix.  38-42  and 
Num.  xxviii.  3-8  (both  late  P), 

5-15.  Ezra's  confession  (||i  Esd.  viii,  70  (72)-87  (89)).  Note 
the  strong  Deuteronomic  and  Jeremianic  colouring  of  this  prayer 
and  of  that  in  Neh,  ix.  6-38,  and  observe  how  Ezra  identifies 
himself  with  the  nation  in  its  guilt,  according  to  the  ancient 
principle  of  the  oneness  or  solidarity  of  society  (see  Psalms,  vol.  ii, 
in  this  series,  pp.  21,  195,  and  218).  The  prayer  in  Dan.  ix.  4-T9 
has  this  same  feature. 

5.  the  eveninsr  oblation:  see  on  v.  4. 

humiliation  :  so  (rightly)  the  LXX  (including  Luc,^.  The 
Heb.  noun  occurs  here  only  in  the  O.  T.,  though  the  cognate  verb 
( = '  to  be  humbled,'  '  afflicted  ')  is  of  frequent  occurrence.  In  post- 
biblical  Hebrew  it  denotes  '  fasting,' and  in  p  Esd.  and  R.  V.  it 
is  (wrongly)  so  translated. 

with  my  garment  .  .  .  rent :   not  a  second  time  :  see  ver.  3. 

Z  fell  upon  my  knees:  see  i  Kings  viii,  54  and  Dan.  vi.  10. 
But  prayer  was  offered  standing  also  :  see  i  Sam.  i.  9 ;  i  Kings 
viii.  22  ;  Matt.  v.  5. 

spread  out  my  hands  unto  the  LORD  my  Ood  :  see  Exod. 


138  EZRA  9.  6-8.     E 

6  and  I  said,  O  my  God,  I  am  ashamed  and  blush  to  lift 
up  my  face  to  thee,  my  God  :  for  our  iniquities  are  in- 
creased over  our  head,  and  our  guiltiness  is  grown  up 

7  unto  the  heavens.  Since  the  days  of  our  fathers  we  have 
been  ^  exceeding  guilty  unto  this  day  ;  and  for  our  iniqui- 
ties have  we^,  our  kings,  and  our  priests,  been  delivered 
into  the  hand  of  the  kings  of  the  lands,  to  the  sword,  to 
captivity,  and  to  spoiling^  and  to  confusion  of  face,  as  it 

8  is  this  day.     And  now  for  a  Httle  moment  grace  hath 

*  Heb.  ///  great  guiltiness. 

ix.  27,  xvii.  II  ;  I  Kings  viii.  22;  2  Chion.  vi.  12  f.;  Isa.  i.  15  ; 
2  Mace.  iii.  20.  In  early  times  the  custom  wal  in  prayer  to 
spread  the  hands  towards  the  altar,  the  supposed  abode  of  deity. 
See  many  representations  of  such  on  Egyptian  monuments. 
In  later  times  the  face  was  turned  during  prayer  towards  Jerusa- 
lem (see  2  Chron.  vi.  34  ;  Dan.  vi.  11),  as  among  the  Jews  still,  and 
as  Moslems  pray  looking  towards  Mecca,  Perhaps,  however,  the 
raising  of  the  hands  and  eyes  (Ps.  cxxiii.  i,  see  on  in  Century  Bible) 
in  prayer  is  a  survival  of  astral  religion.  Some  anthropologists 
hold  that  when  in  prayer  the  hands  were  first  raised  it  was  in  depre- 
cation, the  open  parts  of  the  hands  being  turned  towards  the  deity. 

6.  See  Jer.  vi.  15,  viii.  12. 

I  am  ashamed  and  blush  :  the  same  two  verbs  in  Jer.  xxxi. 
19  and  viii.  12,  and  in  another  form  (Hiphil)  in  Jer.vi.  15.  The  second 
verb,  from  a  root  =  *  to  strike,'  has  reference  to  the  pain  accom- 
panying the  feeling  of  shame,  and  might  be  rendered  'distressed.' 

for  our  iniquities  are  increased  over  oxir  head,  so  that 
they  are  like  to  overwhelm  us.     See  Ps.  xxxviii.  4. 

our  ^iltiness  (=  liability  to  punishment)  .  .  .  unto  the 
heavens  :  the  same  figure  2  Chron.  xxviii.  9. 

7.  See  Neh.  ix.  32  and  cf.  Dan.  ix.  7. 

king's  of  the  lands :  i.  e.  of  heathen  lands,  but  the  reference  is 
in  particular  to  the  kings  of  Assyria  and  Babylon  :  see  Neh.  ix.  32. 

confusion:  lit.  'shame.' 

as  it  is  this  day :  it  is  for  their  iniquities  that  they  are  now 
subject  to  the  king  of  Persia.    Their  sufferings  are  due  to  their  sins. 

8.  And  now  :  i.  e.  since  Zerubbabel's  return. 

for  a  little  moment :  the  space  of  eighty  years  since  Cyrus 
issued  his  decree  is  small  in  comparison  with  the  long  periods 
of  Israel's  rebellion  and  punishment.  For  the  expression  see 
Isa.   xxvi.  20. 

gYace :  i.  e.  '  favour.'    Except  here  and  in  Joshua  xi.  ao  the 


EZRA  9.  9.     E  139 

been  shewed  from  the  Lord  our  God,  to  leave  us  a  rem- 
nant to  escape,  and  to  give  us  a  ^  nail  in  his  holy  place, 
that  our  God  may  lighten  our  eyes,  and  give  us  a  little 
reviving  in  our  bondage.     For  we  are  bondmen ;  yet  our  9 

*  See  Is.  xxii.  23. 

Hebrew  word  has  the  sense  of  supplication.  The  verbal  root 
denotes,  however,  'to  show  pity,'  or  'favour.' 

to  leave  us  a  remnant  to  escape  :  better,  '  leaving  us 
a  remnant  of  escaped  ones,'  the  last  two  words  representing 
a  Hebrew  word  ('  that  which  has  escaped ')  used  in  Exod. 
X.  5  and  Joel  ii.  3  of  the  land  which  escaped  the  ravages 
of  the  locusts.  This  Hebrew  word  is  a  great  one  in 
Isaiah  for  that  part  of  Israel  which  survived  the  judgements  of 
Yahweh  :  see  Isa.  iv.  2,  x.  10,  xxxvii.  31  f.  Here  it 
may  have  this  general  Isaianic  sense,  but  it  seems  probable 
in  the  light  of  verses  13-15  and  especially  of  Neh.  i,  2.  that 
the  returned  exiles  are  meant.  In  reckoning  up  the  forces  for 
righteousness,  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  take  little  account  of  the 
Jews  who  were  not  removed  into  exile. 

to  give  us  a  nail :  the  language  is  based  on  Isaiah  (xxii. 
23),  as  is  that  of  the  preceding  phrase,  and  must  have  here  the 
same  sense  as  in  the  original  passage.  A  nail  fastened  into 
a  wall  to  hold  utensils  is  fixed  and  immovable.  The  '  remnant  of 
escaped  ones '  is  the  nail  now  at  length  restored  and  established 
at  Jerusalem  (his  holy  place).  The  word  translated  nail  means 
also  tent-pin,  and  most  expositors  think  the  figure  is  that  of  a  tent 
made  and  kept  firm  by  the  various  pins  driven  into  the  ground 
(see  Isa.  liv.  2).  But  the  reference  is  to  Isa.  xxii.  23,  and  we 
have  '  nail '  (or  *  pin  '),  not  *  nails  '  ('  pins ').  In  ||  i  Esdras  for 
'  nail '  we  find  '  root  and  name.' 

may  lighten  our  eyes :  i.  e.  may  give  us  the  joy  which 
shows  itself  in  bright  shining  eyes.  The  same  figure  in  i  Sam. 
xiv.  27,  29  ;  Ps.  xiii.  4  ;  Prov.  xxix.  13.  The  corresponding  phrase 
in  I  Esdras  is  'to  discover  our  light'  (or  '  lightbearer ')  'in  the 
house  of  the  Lord  our  God,'  which  Guthe  reads  here  also. 

a  little  reviving  (||  i  Esdras,  '  food ' :  so  the  Heb.  word  in 
Judges  vi.  4,  xvii.  10).  The  writer  seems  to  have  in  mind 
Ezek.  xxxvii.  1-14,  where  the  restoration  of  the  nation  to  Jeru- 
salem is  graphically  set  forth  under  the  figure  of  the  reviving  of 
dead  bones.  The  realization  of  this  prediction  has  in  some 
measure  (cf.  little)  taken  place. 

in  our  bondage  :  see  vcr.  9. 
9.  bondmen:  being  subject  to  the  Persian  government.     The 
repeated  expressions  referring  to   the  subjection   in  verses  8  f. 
show  how  the  thought  rankled  in  their  bosoms. 


140  EZRA  9.  lo,  II.     E 

God  hath  not  forsaken  us  in  our  bondage,  but  hath  ex- 
tended mercy  unto  us  in  the  sight  of  the  kings  of  Persia,  to 
give  us  a  reviving,  to  set  up  the  house  of  our  God,  and  to 
repair  the  *  ruins  thereof,  and  to  give  us  a  ^  wall  in  Judah 

10  and  in  Jerusalem.  And  now,  O  our  God,  what  shall  we 
say  after  this  ?  for  we  have  forsaken  thy  commandments, 

11  which  thou  hast  commanded  by  thy  servants  the  prophets, 
saying.  The  land,  unto  which  ye  go  to  possess  it,  is  an 
unclean  land  through  the  uncleanness  of  the  peoples  of 

*  Or,  waste  places  **  Or,  fence 

hath  extended  mercy  tinto  us :  render,  *  has  shown  us 
favour.' 

the  kiugrs  of  Persia  :  i.  e.  Cyrus,  Darius  I,  and  Artaxerxes  I. 

to  ffive  ...  to  set  up  .  .  .  and  to  repair,  &c.  :  render 
•  giving  .  .  .  setting  up  .  .  .  and  repairing,'  &c.  We  have  here 
an  enumeration  of  three  ways  in  which  God  displayed  His  favour 
to  the  nation:  (i)  He  restored  them,  or  at  least  some  of  them: 
see  on  ver.  8  (a  little  reviving).  (2)  He  enabled  them  to 
rebuild  the  Temple  structure  (see  iii-vi),  even  to  restore  the  parts 
which  had  been  pulled  down  or  injured.  (3)  He  defended  them 
from  their  enemies  round  about. 

a  wall:  to  be  understood  figuratively  as  in  R.V.  *a  fence,' 
'giving  us  protection  against  our  foes  in  the  city  and  its  outskirts,' 
setting  as  it  were  a  hedge  about  them,  such  as  surrounds  a  vine- 
yard (see  Isa.  v.  5  and  Ps.  Ixxx.  12,  where  the  same  word  is 
used).  The  walls  of  Jerusalem  cannot  be  meant,  as  thej'  were  not 
yet  built  (see  Neh.  ii.  11-17)  ;  and  besides,  such  walls  could  not 
surround  'Jerusalem  and  Judah.'  Kosters'  argument  from  this 
verse  that  this  chapter  has  its  right  place  after  Nehemiah  falls 
thus  to  the  ground.  Oettli  explains :  *  Has  made  us  a  separate, 
independent  community.' 

11.  which  thou  hast  commanded  by  thy  servants  the 
prophets :  no  such  words  occur  in  the  prophetical  or  any  other 
parts  of  the  O.T.  Ezra  seems  to  be  giving  the  gist  of  what  the 
law  taught :  see  Lev.  xviii.  24  f.,  27.  We  should,  however,  have 
expected  '  Moses '  and  not  the  prophets  to  have  been  mentioned, 
in  harmony  with  the  custom  in  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  when  the 
laws  of  the  Pentateuch  are  referred  to. 

unclean  land  :  the  exact  expression  occurs  nowhere  else  in 
the  O.T.  In  Lev.  xviii.  25  the  Hebrew  words  so  translated  mean 
lit.  *  a  land  made  *  (or  '  that  has  become  ') '  unclean.'  See  2  Chron. 
xxix.  5,  and  in  contrast  Isa.  xxxvi.  17. 


EZRA  9.  12,  13.     E  141 

the  lands,  through  their  abominations,  which  have  filled 
it  from  one  end  to  another  with  their  filthiness.  Now  12 
therefore  give  not  your  daughters  unto  their  sons,  neither 
take  their  daughters  unto  your  sons,  nor  seek  their  peace 
or  their  prosperity  for  ever :  that  ye  may  be  strong,  and 
eat  the  good  of  the  land,  and  leave  it  for  an  inheritance 
to  your  children  for  ever.  And  after  all  that  is  come  13 
upon  us  for  our  evil  deeds,  and  for  our  great  guilt,  seeing 
that  thou  our  God  hast  punished  us  less  than  our  iniqui- 

12.  er^ve  not  your  daug'hters,  &c.  :  so  substantially  Deut. 
vii.  3. 

nor  seek,  &c.  :  so  Deut.  xxiii.  6. 

peace :  the  Hebrew  word  embraces  in  its  meaning  whatever  is 
essential  to  perfect  well-being :  see  on  v.  7  and  on  Ps.  cxix.  165 
{Century  Bible). 

that  ye  may  be  strong* :  see  Deut.  xi.  8. 

and  eat  the  good  of  the  land :  see  Isa.  i.  19  and  Gen. 
xlv.  18. 

13-15.  Is  it  possible  that,  notwithstanding  the  lesson  of  our 
punishment,  our  nation  is,  contrary  to  thy  command,  once  more 
guilty  of  intermarrying  with  foreigners  ?  Wilt  thou  not  put  an 
end  to  us  ?  But  thou  art  faithful  to  thy  word,  and  dost  preserve 
a  remnant  though  we  are  guilty. 

13.  One  restraining  thought  alone  is  mentioned  :  the  suffering 
of  the  nation  on  account  of  its  sin.  The  words  seeing*  that,  &c., 
to  the  end  of  the  verse  are  intended  to  show  that  the  guilt,  the 
deserving,  was  beyond  the  actual  punishment. 

Ood  hast  punished  us  less,  &c.  :  this  is  the  correct  sense  of 
the  original,  which  might  be  more  literally  rendered :  <  Thou  hast 
relented '  (the  same  verb  in  Isa.  xiv.  6)  or,  '  Thou  hast  restrained 
thy  anger '  (the  word  '  anger '  is  to  be  supplied  with  the  verbs 
s/iamar and  natar  *to  keep')  'according  to  a  scale  of  sins  fewer 
than  ours':  i.e.  'Thou  hast  treated  us  better  than  our  sins 
called  for.' 

Other  renderings  of  the  verse  are  :  (i)  *  Thou  hast  held  back 
some  of  our  sins,'  i.  e.  prevented  them  from  overwhelming  us, 
a  reference  to  ver.  6  ('our  iniquities  are  increased  over  our 
heads  ').  So  Siegfried,  &c.  (2)  *  Thou  hast  judged  us  '  ^altering 
one  Hebrew  letter  for  another  like  it)  '  more  favourably  than  our 
sins  deserved '  :  so  Syr.,  Bertholet,  Buhl.  (3)  *  Thou  hast 
lightened  our  sins,'  i.e.  lightened  or  lessened  the  punishment  of 
them :  so  the  LXX  and  i  Esdras. 


142  EZRA  9.  14—10.  I.     E  Ce 

14  ties  deserve,  and  hast  given  us  such  a  remnant,  shall  we 
again  break  thy  commandments,  and  join  in  affinity 
with  the  peoples  that  do  these  abominations  ?  wouldest 
not  thou  be  angry  with  us  till  thou  hadst  consumed  us,  so 

15  that  there  should  be  no  remnant,  nor  any  to  escape  ?  O 
Lord,  the  God  of  Israel,  thou  art  righteous ;  for  we  are 
left  a  remnant  that  is  escaped,  as  it  is  this  day  :  behold, 
we  are  before  thee  in  our  guiltiness  ;  for  none  can  stand 
before  thee  because  of  this. 

10  [Ce]  Now  while  Ezra  prayed,and  made  confession,  weep- 
ing and  casting  himself  down  before  the  house  of  God, 


14.  shall  we  asfaiu  break,  &c. :  better,  *  do  we  again,'  &c. 
They  were  actually  guilty  of  this  sin :  see  ver.  15.  The  form  of 
the  Hebrew  verb  (imperfect)  can  be  translated  by  the  present  or 
by  the  future. 

ag-ain  :  referring  to  the  fact  implied  in  Deut.  vii.  1-7,  that 
the  Israelites  had  been  guilty  of  intermarrying  with  the  natives  on 
reaching  Canaan  from  Egypt. 

join  in  affinity  :  lit.  '  become  sons  in  law.' 

the  peoples  that  do  (lit.  'of')  these  abominations:  LXX 
and  I  Esdras  :  <  the  people  of  these  lands '  (or  *  religions '),  imply- 
ing a  rather  similarly  written  Hebrew  word  which  may  be  the 
original  one  :  see  on  iii.  3. 

abominations:  see  on  ver.  i. 

remnant :  lit.  *  what  is  left  over '  (after  a  sifting  process  by 
punishment). 

any  to  escape:  one  word  in  Hebrew — that  translated 
remnant  in  ver.  13. 

15.  ri^rhteous:  i.e.  'faithful'  according  to  the  late  meaning 
found  in  Isa.  xl.ff.  So  i  Esdras,  'thou  art  true'  {dXijOivos).  It 
was  God's  faithfulness  in  keeping  the  word  of  His  promise  that 
secured  the  preservation  of  a  remnant :  see  Isa.  x.  20 ff.,  xi.  11  ff., 
&c.,  and  Neh.  ix.  33. 

guiltiness :  the  Hebrew  and  English  words  denote  *  lia- 
bility to  punishment.' 

for  none,  &c.  :  render,  '  for  it  is  impossible  on  account  of 
this  thing  to  stand  before  thee.' 

stand:  see  Ezek.  xxii.  14  ;  Ps.  Ixxvi.  7,  Ixxx.  3  ;  Dan.  x.  17. 

(because  of)  this :  Heb.  neut.  '  this  thing '  :  i.  e.  the  sin  in 
question. 


EZRA  10.     Cr,  143 

X  (II  I  Esd.  viii-ix.  36). 

Repentance  of  the  People  on  Account  of  the  Mixed  Mar- 
riages AND  THE  Steps  they  took  to  put  an  End  to  the 
Evil. 

In  the  preceding  chapter  Ezra  is  the  speaker,  and  the  first 
person  (I,  &c.)  is  accordingly  used.  In  the  present  chapter,  on 
the  contrary,  he  is  spoken  of  in  the  third  person  (he,  &c.).  The 
difference  is  generally  accounted  for  by  supposing  that  in  chap,  x 
Ezra's  own  words  have  been  worked  over  and  altered  by  an 
editor.     See  p.  16  ff. 

1-8.  The  people  take  an  oath  to  put  away  their  non-Jewish 
wives  (and  the  children  they  had  borne  them  ?). 

To  most  readers  it  will  appear  cruelly  immoral  and  irreligious 
to  require  the  abandonment  of  wives  that  were  not  of  Jewish 
descent  and  of  the  children  begotten  by  them :  see,  however,  on 
ver.  44,  which  favours  the  idea  that  in  most  cases  the  children 
were  not  put  away.  How  different  Paul's  teaching  respecting 
mixed  marriages  (i  Cor.  vii.  10  ff.)  !  But  one  has  to  bear  in  mind 
the  peculiar  circumstances  and  the  dominating  ideas  of  the  day. 
The  ancients  did  not  attach  to  marriage  the  sanctity  and  binding 
force  with  which  Christian  nations  have  invested  it,  so  that  the 
separation  of  married  persons  was  much  easier  and  more  frequent 
(see  Matt.  v.  32,  xix.  9). 

Purity  of  racial  blood  was  always,  and  especially  at  the  time  in 
question,  a  matter  of  supreme  moment.  The  nation  was  believed,  as 
such,  to  have  been  selected  to  be  the  world's  teacher.  For  this  it 
was  to  keep  itself  apart  from  other  nations.  The  idea  of  national  and 
ceremonial  purity  was  now  particularly  deep  in  the  national  con- 
sciousness, owing  in  large  part  to  the  teaching  of  the  Deuterono- 
mist  and  Ezekiel.  To  the  priests  of  these  times  there  was  no 
middle  way  between  purity  and  impurity  :  compromise  was  im- 
possible. It  must,  however,  be  remembered  that  there  was  an 
anti-puritan  as  well  as  a  puritan  party,  and  of  this  the  Book  of 
Ruth  is  one  exponent.     See  Bertholet,  Die  Stelluug,  &c. 

1-5.  The  people  confess  their  guilty  and  undertake  to  put  away  the 
strange  wives. 

1.  made  confession:  the  Hebrew  verb  so  translated  means  to 
give  thanks,  praise,  and  (as  here  and  in  Neh.  i.  6  and  ix.  2  f.)  to 
make  acknowledgement  of  sin.  Ezra  made  confession  on  behalf  of 
the  people's  sin,  because,  being  one  of  them,  he  shared  their  guilt 
according  to  the  old  idea  of  national  solidarity  :  see  p.  137,  and  on 
Ps.  cvi.  6  {Century  Bible). 

castingr  himself  down,  &c. :  stretching  hands  towards  the 
Temple,  the  supposed  abode  of  Deity  :  see  i  Kings  viii.  29  f.,  35 
and  Dan.  vi.  10  and  on  Ps.  cxxi.  i  {Century  Bible):  This  would  be 
in  the  priests'  court,  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  house,  perhaps  in 


144 

there  was  gathered  together  unto  him  out  of  Israel  a  very 
great  congregation  of  men  and  women  and  children  :  for 

3  the  people  wept  very  sore.  And  Shecaniah^  the  son  of 
Jehiel,  one  of  the  sons  of  Elam^  answered  and  said  unto 
Ezra,  We  have  trespassed  against  our  God,  and  have 
married  strange  women  of  the  peoples  of  the  land ;  yet 

3  now  there  is  hope  for  Israel  concerning  this  thing.  Now 
therefore  let  us  make  a  covenant  with  our  God  to  put 

front  of  the  altar  of  burnt  offerings.  The  people  assembled  in 
the  great  court  could  see  and  hear  him. 

Israel :  the  whole  community,  not  as  in  ix.  i  (see  on),  and 
often  in  Ezra-Nehemiah  the  lay  portion. 

congrregation :  see  on  ii.  64.  The  Hebrew  denotes  in  par- 
ticular a  gathering  for  worship. 

men,  women,  and  children:  see  Deut.  xxix.  11,  xxxi.  la ; 
a  Chron.  xx.  13  ;  Neh.  viii.  3,  x.  28. 

women :  i.  e.  the  Jewish  wives  whose  sympathies  would  be 
sure  to  side  with  Ezra's  crusade. 

children  :  not  the  word  used  for  infants  {taphy  see  Esther  iii. 
13  and  viii.  11).  The  noun  used  in  1  Esdras  {neanias)  is  applied  to 
Saul  in  Acts  vii.  58.  Josephus  uses  it  of  Agrippa  I  at  the  age  of  forty. 

2.  Shecaniah ;  see  viii.  3  and  cf.  ver.  26.  Did  he  take  action 
against  his  own  father  ? 

sons  of  Elam:  see  ii,  7,  viii.  7. 

trespassed :  the  Hebrew  verb  (nia'al)  is  used  of  violating  an 
express  command  :  see  verses  6,  10 ;  Neh.  i.  8,  xiii.  27.  The 
cognate  noun  occurs  in  ix.  2,  4,  which  see  for  what  is  here  meant : 
see  on  ver.  13  (transgressed). 

married:  lit.  'to  give  a  home  to,*  an  idiom  =  *  to  marry,' 
found  only  in  Ezra-Nehemiah,  perhaps  with  the  implication  that 
the  union  in  question  was  not  true  marriage  :  see  the  next  note. 

strange  (women)  :  this  adjective  is  used  in  Proverbs  (ii.  16, 
vii.  5,  &c.)  to  describe  a  harlot ;  the  women  whom  they  had  living 
with  them  were  harlots^  not  wives  :  see  last  note  (peoples  of  the) 
land :  see  on  iii.  3. 

3.  covenant:  the  only  occurrence  of  the  word  in  Ezra.  Here  it 
denotes  a  vow  or  solemn  undertaking  made  to  God,  as  in  2  Chron. 
xxix.  6. 

Usually  God  is  said  to  make  a  covenant  with  men,  as  in  Ezek. 
xxiv.  35. 

put  away :  lit.  '  to  put  out,'  as  in  ver.  19,  i.  e.  to  remove  from 
the  houses  the  '  strange  women '  whom  they  had  introduced  :  see 
on  ver.  2  (marry).     The  ordinary  word  for  putting  away  a  wife 


EZRA  10.  4-6.     Ci:  145 

away  all  the  wives,  and  such  as  are  born  of  them,  accord- 
ing to  the  counsel  of  ^  my  lord,  and  of  those  that  tremble 
at  the  commandment  of  our  God  ;  and  let  it  be  done  ac- 
cording  to  the  law.     Arise ;    for  the  matter  belongeth  4 
unto  thee,  and  we  are  with  thee  :  be  of  good  courage, 
and  do  it.     Then  arose  Ezra,  and  made  the  chiefs  of  the  5 
priests,  the  Levites,  and  all    Israel,  to  swear  that  they 
would  do  according  to  this  word.    So  they  sware.    Then  6 
*  Or,  the  Lord 

occurs  in  Deut.  xxii.  19,  &c. ;  cf.  Gen,  xxi.  10  for  another  such 
verb.  The  union,  not  being  a  true  marriage,  could  be  brought  to 
an  end  by  merely  turning  the  woman  out  :  no  divorce  proceedings 
were  necessary. 

all  the  wives :  read  (with  Luc,  and  virtually  i  Esdras)  '  all 
our  foreign  wives.' 

according'  to  tlie  counsel  of  my  lord  (  =  Ezra)  :  Ezra  seems 
to  have  been  entrusted  by  the  Persian  king  with  supreme  authority 
in  Jewish  matters.     See  vii.  5. 

those  that  tremble,  &c. :  see  on  ix.  4.  In  i  Esdras  '  Those 
who  obey  the  law  of  the  Lord,'  which  Guthe  thinks  represents  the 
original  Hebrew  text. 

let  it  be  done,  &c.  ;  render  according  to  the  M.  T.  ^^so  Luc.)j 
'  it  shall  (or  will)  be  done,'  a  mere  statement  of  fact. 

4.  Arise :  the  Heb.  verb  denotes  here,  as  very  often,  '  rouse 
yourself,'  'be  energetic'  Before  another  verb  it  denotes  to  set 
about,  begin  the  action  of  the  verb.  See  Joshua  i.  2;  Judges  iv. 
14;   I  Chron.  xxii.  6, 

I  Esdras  has  '  Arise  and  put  into  execution,'  which  may  well 
be  a  mere  interpretation,  or  perhaps  a  second  verb  has  fallen  out 
from  the  Hebrew. 

belongeth,  &c. :  Heb.  '  rests  upon  thee  as  an  obligation.' 
be  of  good  courage,  &c. :  lit.  -be  strong,'  &c.      So  i  Chron. 
xxii.  16;  cf.  Joshua  i.  6. 

5.  arose  :  see  on  ver.  4  (arise). 

chiefs  :  the  word  belongs  to  each  of  the  three  classes 
enumerated  (priests,  Levites,  and  the  laity)  :  see  on  ix.  i. 

the  priests,  the  Levites:  the  regular  Deuteronomic  phrase 
(all  Levites  were  priests,  see  Deut.  xvii.  9-18,  xviii.  i,  xxi.  5, 
&c.),  indicating,  if  genuine,  early  authorship.  But  we  should 
probably  read  with  Luc,  LXX,  and  i  Esdras  *  the  priests  and  the 
Levites,'  the  later  (Pj  phraseology. 

Israel :  here  the  laity  :  see  on  ver.  i  and  i:j.  i. 

6.  Ezra's  grief, 

L 


146  EZRA  10.  7.     Ce 

Ezra  rose  up  from  before  the  house  of  God,  and  went 
into  the  chamber  of  Jehohanan  the  son  of  Eliashib  :  ^  and 
when  he  came  thither,  he  did  eat  no  bread,  nor  drink 
water :  for  he  mourned  because  of  the  trespass  of  them 
7  of  the  captivity.     And  they  made  proclamation  through- 

*  According  to  some  ancient  versions,  and  he  lodged  there. 

Then  Ezra  rose,  &c.  ;  render,  'And  when  Ezra  had  risen 
from  before  the  house  of  God  he  went  into  the  chamber  of  Jeho- 
hanan, the  son  of  Eliashib,  and  passed  the  night  there,  eating  no 
bread  and  drinking  no  water,'  &c. 

chamber  (Heb.  lishkah)  :  better  ^  cell,'  see  on  viii.  29. 
Jehohanan  the  son  of  Eliashih :  since  Eliashib  was  high- 
priest  during  the  whole  or  greater  part  of  the  activity  of  Nehe- 
miah  (see  Neh.  iii.  i,  20,  xiii.  4,  28)  this  Jehohanan  cannot  be 
identical  with  Johanan,  the  father  and  predecessor  of  Jaddua  (see 
Neh.  xii.  22,  cf.  ver.  11),  the  high-priest  who,  according  to 
Josephus  ^,  went  to  meet  Alexander  the  Great  as  the  latter  was 
advancing  towards  Jerusalem.  Assuming  that  Jaddua  was  high- 
priest  in  333  B.  c.  his  father  could  not  have  held  the  office  at  the 
time  with  which  we  are  dealing  {circa  440  B.C.).  Now  in  the 
Sachau  Aramaic  Papyri,  No.  i,  line  18,  mention  is  made  of  a  Jeho- 
hanan, high-priest  at  Jerusalem  at  the  time  this  letter  was  sent  to 
Bagoas,  governor  of  Judah,  viz.  407  b.  c.  Eliashib  must  have  had  a 
son  with  this  name,  and  as  he  was  himself  high-priest  about  440  b.  c. 
this  son  might  well  have  been  high-priest  in  407  b.  c.  In  favour  of 
this  is  the  identity  of  the  names— Jehohanan  in  both  cases,  while  in 
Neh.  xii.  22  it  is  Johanan.    Both  are  Hebrew  forms  of  our  '  John.' 

It  is  quite  evident,  as  Noldeke  and  others  have  pointed  out, 
that  the  list  of  high-priests  in  Neh.  xii  is  defective,  see  notes  on 
the  chapter.  There  is  no  need  therefore  to  interpret  the  words 
'  the  chamber  of  Jehohanan,  son  of  Eliashib,' proleptically  as  mean- 
ing <  the  chamber  subsequently  known  as  that  of  Jehohanan,'  &c. 
and  when  he  came  thither  (Heb.  'there'):  read  (with 
I  Esdras),  '  and  passed  the  night  there,'  changing  one  Hebrew 
consonant  {k)  to  one  much  like  it  (w).  In  the  M.T.  two  identical 
verbal  forms  occur  in  the  same  verse,  which  is  suspicious. 

he  did  eat  no  bread,  nor  drink  water :  for  fasting  as  an 
expression  of  mourning  see  on  viii.  21. 

trespass  :  see  on  ver.  2,  and  for  the  whole  clause  on  ix.  4. 

T  (.  An  assembly  summoned. 

7.  made  proclamation:  see  on  i.  1,  and  cf.  Neh.  viii.  15.    See 
also  on  viii.  21,  where  a  diflferent  verb  is  employed. 

'  Anticj.  X.  S,  5. 


EZRA  10.  8,  9.     Ce  147 

out  Judah  and  Jerusalem  unto  all  the  children  of  the 
captivity,  that  they  should  gather  themselves  together 
unto  Jerusalem  ;  and  that  whosoever  came  not  within  8 
three  days,  according  to  the  counsel  of  the  princes  and  the 
elders,  all  his  substance  should  be  ^  forfeited,  and  himself 
separated  from  the  congregation  of  the  captivity.  Then  9 
all  the  men  of  Judah  and  Benjamin  gathered  themselves 
together  unto  Jerusalem  within  the  three  days  ;  it  was  the 

"  Heb.  devoted. 

Jtidah  and  Jerusalem  :  see  on  ii.  i. 
8.  within  three  days  :  since  in  so  short  a  time  the  proclamation 
could  be  made  and  responded  to,  thearea  within  which  thecommunity 
resided  must  have  been  very  restricted.    See  plan  opposite  p.  159. 

princes  :  see  on  ix.  r. 

elders:  in  Ezra  an  Aramaic  (v.  5,  &c.)  and  (as  here)  a 
Heb.  word  are  so  rendered.  Every  city  (but  see  below)  had  its 
elders  (see  ver.  14),  who  were  heads  of  houses,  and  controlled 
local  affairs  as  British  town  or  city  councillors.  Princes  were  the 
heads  of  the  three  classes  of  Jewish  society,  see  on  ix.  i.  It  is 
strange,  but  significant,  that  we  do  not  read  of  elders  at  Jeru- 
salem :  probably  the  princes,  residing  for  the  most  part  at 
Jerusalem,  acted  as  the  local  as  well  as  the  general  authority. 
We  do  not  meet  with  the  words  prince  or  elder  in  Nehemiah, 
though  corresponding  words  are  made  use  of.  See  on  Neh.  ii. 
16,  and  cf.  G.  A.  Smith,  Jenisakm,  ii.  377. 

all  his  substance  :  in  earlier  times  idolatrous  cities  were 
to  be  devoted  (Heb.  kheretn^  Gk.  anathema^  see  Gal.  i.  8  f.), 
i.e.  offered  up,  to  God  as  a  burnt  offering:  see  Joshua  vi.  17  f., 
vii.  T,  II,  15,  &c.  (JEi.  In  the  later  laws  individual  Israelites 
took  the  place  of  Canaanite,  &c.,  cities,  and  were  put  to  death  for 
idolatry  (Deut.  vii.  26;  Lev.  xxvii  29  (P)),  or  excluded  from  the 
community  (John  ix.  22,  xii.  44,  xiv.  a  ;  cf.  I.uke  vi.  22),  their 
property  being  seized  'made  khcrein,  a  devoted  thing)  and  added 
to  tlie  wealth  of  the  Temple  (see  Lev.  xxvii,  28  f.).  The  fact  that 
Ezra  had  the  power  to  make  and  enforce  such  laws  shows  he  had 
been  entrusted  by  the  Persians  with  supreme  authority  in  Jewish 
matters  (see  vii.  2.5  f.).  Among  the  Israelites  property  once  pos- 
sessed would  not  be  permanently  alienated  except  in  very  extreme 
cases  like  the  above. 

9-17.  Meeting  of  the  assembly ;    decision  to  appoint  a  commission 
of  investigation. 

8.  Jndah  and  Benjamin :  see  on  i.  3. 

Blnth  month  :  i.  c.  Kislew(see  Zech,  vii.  i  and  on  Neh.  i.  1), 

L   2 


t48  EZRA  10.  10,  II.     Ce 

ninth  month;  on  the  twentieth  day  of  the  month  :  and  all 
the  people  sat  in  the  broad  place  before  the  house  of 
God,  trembling  because  of  this  matter^and  for  '^the  great 

10  rain.  And  Ezra  the  priest  stood  up,  and  said  unto 
them,  Ye  have   trespassed,  and  have   married   strange 

11  women,  to  increase  the  guilt  of  Israel.  Now  therefore 
^make  confession  unto  the  Lord,  the  God  of  your 
fathers,  and  do  his   pleasure  :  and  separate  yourselves 

*  Heb.  the  rains.  ^  Or,  give  thanks 

corresponding  roughly  to  portions  of  Nov. -Dec,  the  time  of 
the  early  rain.  The  2oth  Kislew  would  be  nearly  five  months 
after  Ezra's  first  arrival  (see  vii.  9).  Perhaps  this  time  was 
required  to  make  arrangements  for  the  meeting  of  the  commis- 
sion :  not  at  all  unlikely  there  v^as  opposition,  internal  (see 
ver.  15)  or  external.  The  time  of  the  year  was  unfavourable  for 
such  gatherings,  but  Ezra's  zeal  could  brook  no  delay. 

the  broad  place :  see  on  Neh.  iii.  26  (water  ffate).  The 
Hebrew  word  has  a  sense  similar  to  our  'square  '  or  'place,'  and 
stands  commonly  for  the  open  space  outside  the  gates  of  Eastern 
cities,  used  as  a  market-place  (see  Deut.  xiii.  16  ;  2  Sam.  xxi,  12, 
and  Esther  iv.  6).  This  open  space  was  situate  on  the  inside  of  the 
Water  Gate  in  the  north-east  of  the  temple  area. 

g'reat  rain  :  a  correct  rendering  of  the  Heb.  'rains  '  ('plural 
of  intensity  ').  The  reference  is  to  the  early  and  heavy  rams. 
During  my  visit  to  Palestine  in  1888  they  began  on  Nov.  4,  the 
second  day  after  my  arrival  at  Jerusalem.  In  the  course  of  the 
following  two  months  there  were  often  for  days  together  heavier 
rains  than  I  have  seen  elsewhere. 

10.  (Ezra)  the  priest :  see  on  vii.  11. 
stood  up :  see  on  ver.  4  (arise). 

trespassed,  married,  strangre  women :  see  on  ver.  2. 
to    increase :   better  *  increasing '  (gerund).     The  Hebrew 
permits  either  rendering. 

gnilt :  liability  to  punishment :  see  on  ix.  4. 

11.  make  confession :  or  'give  thanks,'  *  render  praise'  :  see 
pp.  137,  143. 

(do  his)  pleasnre :  objectively  understood  '  what  He  desires, 
is  pleased  with ' :  see  Ps.  cxlv.  19  and  cf.  Neh.  ix.  24  (end  of 
verse";i,  Dan.  xi.  3,  16,  36. 

separate  yourselves:  see  on  vi.  21.  They  were  to  isolate 
themselves  from  their  heathen  neighbours  by  avoiding  unneces- 
sary intercourse,  observing  the  laws  anent  foods  and  drinks,  &c. ; 
and  they  were  also  to  put  away  their  heathen  wives. 


EZRA   10.  12-14.     Ci,  149 

from  the  peoples  of  the   land,    and    from    the   strange 
women.     Then  all  the  congregation  answered  and  said  la 
with  a  loud  voice,  ^  As  thou  hast  said  concerning  us,  so 
must  we  do.     But  the  people  are  many,  and  it  is  a  time  of  13 
much  rain,  and  we  are  not  able  to  stand  without,  neither 
is  this  a  work  of  one  day  or  two  :  for  we  have  greatly 
transgressed  in  this  matter.    Let  now  our  princes  ^  be  ap-  14 
pointed  for  all  the  congregation,  and  let  all  them  that  are 
in  our  cities  which  have  married  strange  women  come  at 
*  Or,  As  tJiou  hast  said,  so  it  belioveth  us  to  do  *'  Heb.  stand. 

peoples  of  the  land :  see  on  iii.  3. 

12.  congregation  :  see  on  ii.  64.  Here  the  word  includes  the 
returned  exiles  only  (see  ver.  16). 

As  thon  hast  said,  &c. :  render  as  in  the  R.Vm.,  'As  thou 
hast  said,  so  it  behoveth  us  to  do.'  The  E.VV.  translate  the  same 
Hebrew  word  ('  concerning  us,  so  must  we  do ')  twice  over.  The 
misplacing  of  the  Hebrew  accent  has  led  to  this  confusion. 

13.  Three  hindrances  to  the  expeditious  settlement  of  the 
matter  are  urged. 

1.  The  magnitude  of  the  assembly  :  how  could  so  many  find 
lodgings  and  entertainment. 

2.  The  weather  was  unpropitious.  In  December,  1888,  I  saw 
as  much  snow  in  and  about  Jerusalem,  and  found  it  as  keenly 
cold,  as  during  the  severest  winter  in  Great  Britain.  The  early 
rains  are  generally  accompanied  by  a  sudden  depression  in 
the  temperature. 

5.  The  large  number  of  mixed  marriages  to  be  dealt  with, 
transgressed:  the  root  idea  of  the  Hebrew  verb  {pasha')  is 
'  to  rebel '  ;  in  late  Hebrew,  as  here,  it  is  specially  used  of  violating 
a  specific  law  :  see  Deut.  viii.  23.     See  on  ver.  2  (trespassed). 

14.  princes:  see  on  ix.  i.  They  are  here  to  act  with  the 
elders  and  judges. 

for  (all  the  congregation)  :  'on  behalf  of,'  not  '  instead  of.' 
cities :  i.  e,  other  than  Jerusalem.  Cases  would  be  tried 
where  the  suspected  parties  resided  (cf.  our  sj-stem  of  legal  pro- 
cedure and  travelling  judges).  The  princes  resided  at  Jenisalem 
and  would  act  in  that  citj'  :  see  on  ver.  8.  The  Hebrew  word  for 
cities  {'arwi)  is  used  for  villages,  towns,  and  what  we  call  cities 
(see  the  concordances,  though  in  some  passages  it  denotes  the 
idea  of  a  fortified  place  ''2  Kings  xvii.  9,  xviii.  8,  &c.),  and  even 
a  fortress  (see  2  Sam.  v.  7,  9,  vi.  10,  &c.\ 
strange  women :  see  on  ver.  2, 


ISO  EZRA  10.  15.     Ce 

appointed  times,  and  with  them  the  elders  of  every  city, 

and  the  judges  thereof,  until  the  fierce  wrath  of  our  God 

15  be  turned  from  us,  ^  until  this  matter  be  despatched.  Only 

i  Jonathan  the  son  of  Asahel  and  Jahzeiah  the  son  of  Tik- 

vah  ^  stood  up  against  this  matter :  and  Meshullam  and 

"  Or,  as  touching  this  matter         ^  Or,  were  appointed  over  this 

at  appointed  times  :  so  Neh.  x.  34,  xiii.  31. 
judges :  in  earlier  part^  of  the  O.  T.  the  king  is  called  by 
the  Hebrew  word  Englished  '  judge  ' :  see  Deut.  xvii.  9,  12  ; 
2  Kings  xvi.  5  ;  Isa.  xvi,  5.  The  shophets  (E.VV.  'judges')  of 
Israel  prior  to  the  establishment  of  the  monarchy  were  deliverers, 
and  in  their  several  districts  administrators,  as,  e.  g.  Gideon 
(Judges  vi.  II  ff.),  Jephthah  (Judges  x.  6  ff.),  and  Samson  (Judges 
xiii.  I  ff.),  though  the  last  named  belongs  to  a  different  category. 

It  is  difficult  to  differentiate  '  elders  '  and  'judges '  in  post-exilic 
biblical  literature.  It  seems  highly  probable  that  the  presiding  elder 
in  each  city  (see  on  cities)  was  recognized  as  shophet  or  judge. 
We  find  even  the  priests  arrogating  to  themselves  the  functions 
and  prerogatives  of  the  judge  (see  Deut.  xvii.  9,  xix.  17,  xxi.  5'», 
just  as  in  later  times  the  high-priest  became  king  (see  vii.  5). 

The  leading  officials  in  Tyre  and  Carthage  were  called  shophetim 
('judges'  is  a  verj'  misleading  rendering).  The  two  sufetes 
( =  shophetim^)  in  Carthage  corresponded  to  the  two  consuls  in 
Republican  Rome. 

until  the  fierce,  &c.  :  render,  '  so  that  the  fierce  wrath  of  our 
God  may  be  turned,'  &c.  The  Hebrew  conjunction  rendered  until 
has  this  {telic)  meaning  also  in  Gen.  xxvii.  44  and  Mic.  vii.  9. 

until  this  matter,  &c.  :  read  (with  2  Heb.  MSS.,  the  Versions, 
and  I  Esdras)  as  in  R.  Vm.,  '  as  touching  this  matter.' 

15.  The  only  prominent  men  to  oppose  the  policy  outlined  in 
ver.  14  were  Jonathan  and  Jahzeiah,  aided  by  Meshullam  and 
a  Levite  called  Shabbethai.  This  is  implied  in  the  rendering  of 
the  R.  v.,  which  is  the  only  possible  one  ;  but  it  has  difficulties, 
and  many  scholars  prefer,  on  account  of  them,  to  follow  the  A.  V. 
and  the  R.  Vm.,  which  regard  the  four  men  named  as  helpers,  not 
hinderers,  of  the  proposal  described  in  the  foregoing  verse.  Here 
are  some  of  the  grounds  for  the  latter  view  : — 

I.  The  verb  here  rendered  in  the  R.  V.,  stood  up  aerainst,  is 
identical  with  that  rendered  in  ver.  14,  '  be  appointed  for.'  In 
reply,  let  it  be  noted  that  the  preposition  following  the  verb  is 
different  in  each  case,  and  that  there  are  many  examples  in  Hebrew 
in  which  a  verb  has  opposite  meanings  with  different  prepositions. 
Cf.  the  Hebrew  verbs  '  to  be  sorry,'  &c.,  and  *  to  fight.' 

As  a  matter  of  fact  this  verb  (lit.  *  to  stand ')  means  *  to  stand 


EZRA  10.  i6.     Ce  151 

Shabbethai  the  Levite  helped  them.     And  the  children  16 
of  the  captivity  did  so.     And  Ezra  the  priest,  7vith  cer- 
tain heads  of  fathers'  houses^  after  their  fathers'  houses,  and 
all  of  them  by  their  names,  were  separated  ;  and  they  sat 

against '  in  Lev.  xix.  16  ;  i  Chron.  xxi.  i  ;  2  Chron.  xxii.  23  ; 
Dan.  viii.  25,  xi.  15.  Perhaps  the  writer  intends  a  word-play  in 
verses  14  f.  ('  stand  for,'  '  stand  against '). 

2.  The  beginning  of  ver.  16  is  said  to  imply  that  the  returned 
exiles  supported  the  suggestion  of  ver.  14.  But  if  the  text  is  not 
at  fault  (which  is  doubtful)  we  may  understand  the  word  *  so  '  in 
ver.  16  to  refer  to  what  is  said  in  ver.  14,  ver.  15  being  treated  as 
a  parenthesis.  We  may  then  thus  paraphrase  ver.  16 :  '  But  the 
returned  exiles  acted  thus  (see  ver.  14)  (though  Jonathan,  &c., 
stood  up  against  it).' 

3.  We  do  not  read  elsewhere  of  any  opposition.  It  should, 
however,  be  remembered  that  our  narrative  is  but  a  brief  and 
imperfect  record  of  what  took  place,  and,  to  say  the  least,  oppo- 
sition of  the  kind  here  advocated  is  exactly  what  one  would 
have  expected. 

It  may  be  added  : — 

1.  The  word  rendered  only  has  often  the  meaning  of  '  but,' 
'  however,'  introducing  an  adversative  sentence  :  see  Gen.  ix.  4,  xx. 

•12,  xxi.  21  ;  Lev.  xxi,  23,  xxvii.  28  ;  Num.  xviii.  15,  17  ;  2  Sam. 
iii.  13  ;  Jer.  x.  24. 

2.  We  know  that  it  was  Ezra  who  superintended  the  execution 
of  the  proposal  of  ver.  14,  and  not  Jonathan,  &c.  It  must,  how- 
ever, be  allowed  that  the  Versions,  including  i  Esdras,  favour 
the  A.  V.  and  R.  Vm. 

3.  Van  Hoonacker*  thinks  Jonathan  (see  viii.  6)  and  Jahzeiah 
(nowhere  else  mentioned)  were  priests  and  their  two  helpers 
Levites.  This  is,  however,  a  case  of  being  wise  above  what 
is  written. 

16.  See  on  preceding  verse. 

children  of  tlie  captivity  :  see  on  iv.  i  and  also  on  ii.  i. 

And  Ezra,  &c.  :  render,  'And  Ezra  chose  (lit. '  separated  ')  for 
himself  a  number  (lit. '  men  ')  of  heads  of  fathers'  houses  according 
to  their  fathers'  houses,  all  of  them  marked  (ticked)  off  by  name.' 

heads  of  fathers'  houses  :  see  on  ii.  59. 

by  their  names:  probably  the  phrase  at  the  end  of  viii.  20 
(see  on)  stood  originall}'  here  as  there,  the  participle  '  marked  * 
(R.  V.  '  expressed ')  having  been  overlooked  by  an  early  cop3'ist. 

were  separated  :  read  with  i  Esdras  and  some  MSS.  of  the 
LXX,  '   And  Ezra~  chose  (lit.  *  separated  ')  for  himself  :  see  above. 

*  Nehemie  et  Esdras,  p.  38  (n.). 


152  EZRA  10.  17,  i8.     Ce 

down  in  the  first  day  of  the  tenth  month  to  examine  the 

1 7  matter.     And  they  made  an  end  with  all  the  men  that  had 
married  strange  women  by  the  first  day  of  the  first  month. 

1 8  And  among  the  sons  of  the  priests  there  were  found  that 

tenth  montli:  i.  e.  Tebet  (Dec-Jan.)  :  see  on  ver.  9. 
to   examine,   &c.  :    another    instance    of    the    tacit  use    by 
the  English  translators  (E.VV.)  of  an  amended  text.     The  M.  T. 
has  (apparently)  'for  Darius,'  the  consonants  of  which  are  almost 
exactly  the  same  as  '  to  examine.' 

17.  The  M.  T.  is  incapable  of  yielding  any  passable  sense. 
Bertheau  and  succeeding  commentators  are  almost  certainly 
right  in  regarding  the  words  the  men  that  had  married  strangfe 
wives  as  the  heading  which  originally  preceded  the  lists  in 
verses  18-44.  Ver.  17  will  then  contain  excellent  Hebrew,  the 
translation  of  which  is  :  '  And  (the  inquiry)  was  brought  to  an 
end  in  every  place  by  the  first  day/  &c.  If  the  M.  T.  is  retained 
we  must  render :  '  And  (the  inquiry)  was  brought  to  an  end  as 
regards  all  the  men  who  had  married  strange  women  by  the  first 
day,'  &c. 

And  they  made  an  end:  the  construction  is  that  of  the 
indefinite  subject  and  is  better  translated  by  the  passive.  It  is  the 
thing  done  that  is  emphasized,  not  the  agent  or  agents, 
married  strange  women  :  see  on  ver.  2. 
first  month:  i.e.  Nisan  (March- April)  :  the  Jewish  yew 
began  with  Nisan  after  the  exile  down  to  the  time  of  Alexander 
the  Great.  Originally,  however,  Tishri  (Sept. -Oct.)  was  the  first 
month  (see  Exod.  xxiii,  JE;  xxxiv,  J).  Josephus  and  the  Mishnah 
make  a  distinction  between  a  sacred  and  a  secular  year,  beginning 
respectively  with  Nisan  and  Tishri.  This  is,  however,  a  distinc- 
tion about  which  the  scriotures  know  nothing,  though  in  the 
Flaws  as  to  feasts,  &c.,  Nisan  opens  the  year:  see  Josephus, 
Antiq.  i.  3,  3,  and  Schurer,  Geschichte^^) ^  &c.,  i.  32  ff.  (E.V.  i.  i, 
38  ff.). 

The  commissioners  had  spent  three  months  (cf.  verses  T6f.)  in 
the  work  of  trying  the  cases.  That  the  evil  was  not  entirely 
removed  is  proved  by  Neh.  xiii.  23,  26-28  ;  cf.  Neh.  ix.  2. 

18-44.  Lists  of  ^  the  men  who  had  married  strange  women''  :  see 
on  ver.  17.  This  list  must  have  been  carefully  preserved  in  the 
city  or  temple  archives.  Even  the  fertile  brain  of  the  Chronicler 
could  hardly  have  invented  these  names  and  what  is  said  in 
connexion  with  them. 

The  grouping  of  the  persons  involved  follows  closely  that  of 
the  lists  in  ch.  ii    see  introductory  remarks  to)  and  in  Neh.  vii. 

I.   Temple  officers  : 

T.    Priests,  seventeen  in  number  :   i8-2a. 


EZRA   10.  19-24.     C,  153 

had   married  strange   women  :    namely^   of   the  sons  of 
Jeshua,  the  son  of  Jozadak^  and  his  brethren,  Maaseiah, 
and  Eliezer,  and  Jarib,  and  Gedaliah.     And  they  gave  19 
their  hand  that  they  would  put  away  their  wives  ;  and 
being   guilty^   they  offered  a  ram  of  the  flock  for  their 
guilt.      And    of   the    sons    of    Immer ;    Hanani    and  20 
Zebadiah.     And  of  the  sons  of  Harim ;  Maaseiah^,  and  21 
Elijah,  and  Shemaiah,  and  Jehiel,  and  Uzziah.     And  of  22 
the  sons   of    Pashhur ;    Elioenai,    Maaseiah^    Ishmael, 
Nethanel,  Jozabad,  and  Elasah.     And  of  the  Levites ;  23 
Jozabad,  and  Shimei,  and  Kelaiah  (the  same  is  Kelita), 
Pethahiah,  Judah,  and  Eliezer.      And  of  the  singers ;  24 
Eliashib  :  and  of  the  porters  ;  Shallum,  and  Telem,  and 

2.  Levites,  six  in  number  :  23. 

3.  Singers(2,  see  on  ver.  24)  and  porters  (3).  five  in  number:  24. 
II.   The  laity  (Israel),  eightj'-six    in   number:  25-43.     We  do 

not  read  here  of  Nethinim  (see  p.  63  f.)  or  of  Solomon's  servants 
(see  p.  64"^. 
18-22.   Priests. 

18.  sons  of  the    priests  :  render  '  priests '  and  see  on  ii.  4  r 
and  iv.  t. 

married  strangle  women  :  see  on  ver.  2. 
Jeshua  :  see  on  ii.  2. 

19.  they  g'ave  their  hand  :  i.  e.  they  entered  into  a  compact: 
see  2  Kings  x.  15  ;  2  Chron.  xxx.  8;    Lam.  v.  6 ;  Ezek.  xvii.  17. 

put  away  :  see  on  ver.  3. 

and  beingf  gfuilty  ...  a  ram  :  read  (with  Kuenen  and 
most  later  scholars),  'and  their  guilt  offering  was  a  ram.'  No  change 
in  the  consonantal,  the  only  original  part  of  the  text,  is  required. 
The  M,  T.  makes  poor  Hebrew  and  (omitting  the  italicized  words 
inserted  by  the  translators)  poorer  English. 
For  guilt  offering  see  Lev.  v.  14  ff. 

ram  of  the  flock:  in  Lev.  v.  18  '  ram.' 

(for  their)  gnilt :  see  on  ix.  6. 
20-22.  Priests',  see  on  ii,  36-39. 

23.  Leviies. 

Kelaiah  (Kelita) :  see  Neh.  viii.  7,  x.  10. 

24.  Singers  and  porters.   Note  that  these  two  classes  are  mentioned 
as  distinct  from  the  Levites.     See  p.  61  f. 

Eliashib:  add  (with  Ltic.  and  i  Esdras"'  'and  Zaccur.' 


154  EZRA  10.  25-32.     C,r 

35  Uri.     And  of  Israel :  of  the  sons  of  Parosh ;  Ramiah, 
and  Izziah,  and  Malchijah,  and  Mijamin,  and  Eleazar, 

26  and  Malchijah,  and  Benaiah.     And  of  the  sons  of  Elam  ; 
Mattaniah,  Zechariah,  and  Jehiel,  and  Abdi,  and  Jere- 

27  moth,  and  Elijah.     And  of  the  sons  of  Zattu  ;  Elioenai, 
Eliashib,    Mattaniah,   and    Jeremoth,  and  Zabad,    and 

28  Aziza.     And  of  the  sons  of  Bebai ;  Jehohanan,  Hana- 

29  niah,  Zabbai,  Athlai,     And  of  the  sons  of  Bani ;  Mesh- 
ullam,Malluch,andAdaiah,  Jashub,and  Sheal, ''^Jeremoth. 

30  And  of  the  sons  of  Pahath-moab ;  Adna,  and  Chelal, 
Benaiah,  Maaseiah,  Mattaniah^  Bezalel,  and  Binnui,  and 

31  Manasseh.     And  o/the  sons  of  Harim  ;  Eliezer,  Isshijah, 

32  Malchijah,    Shemaiah,    Shimeon ;    Benjamin,    Malluch, 

*  Another  reading  is,  and  Ramoth. 

25-43.  Laynneu.  The  houses  mentioned  here  occur  also  in 
ch.  ii.  3  ff.  (see  on),  though  in  a  different  order. 

25.  Israel:  i.  e.  the  lay  portion  of  the  nation,  as  in  ix.  i  and 
Neh.  xi.  3  ;  see  (for  the  wider  sense)  x.  r.  The  name  stood  for 
the  Northern  Kingdom  until  that  kingdom  came  to  a  close  (i  Kings 
xxiv.  7,  10),  after  which  it  was  used  for  the  Southern  Kingdom  (ii. 
50;  Jer.  ii.  12,  31,  &c.  ,  and  even  for  the  new  Jewish  community 
made  up  almost  entirely  of  returned  exiles  (x.  i). 

MalcMjah:  read  (with  Luc.)  '  Michaiah.' 

26.  JeMel :  see  on  ver.  2. 

28.  Zabbai :  in  ii.  9  '  Zaccai.'  In  Hebrew  the  letters  h  and 
c  {k)  are  almost  identical,  and  are  therefore  constantly  confounded 
by  the  ancient  translators. 

29.  Bani :  a  house  or  clan  of  the  same  name  is  mentioned  in 
ver.  34,  copyist's  mistake.  Perhaps  (as  Keil,  &c.,  suggest)  we 
should  in  one  of  these  places  read  Bigwai  (Biffvai)  (ii.  14). 
Moreover,  whereas  the  number  of  offenders  belonging  to  the 
other  houses  vary  from  four  to  eiglit,  of  the  house  of  the  second 
Bani  (ver.  34)  twenty-seven  are  mentioned.  Probably  the  text 
has  suffered  corruption,  several  heads  of  houses  having  stood 
originally  in  the  section  beginning  with  ver.  24.  Schultz  holds 
that  the  twenty-seven  men  of  verses  34-41  belonged  to  different 
country  districts  of  Judah. 

Jeremoth:  to  be  preferred  to  qr.  and  R.Vm.  'and  Ramoth.' 
31.  (And)  0/ :    remove  the  italics  and  (with  LXX,  i  Esdras, 
many  Hebrew  MSS.)  restore  the  corresponding  Hebrew  word 
{miri). 


EZRA  10.  33-44.     C^  15^ 

Shemariah.     Of  the  sons  of  Hashum  ;  Mattenai,  Mattat-  ?,3 
tah,  Zabad,  Eliphelet,  Jeremai^  Manasseh,  Shimei.     Of  34 
the  sons  of  Bani ;  Maadai,  Amram,  and  Uel ;  Benaiah,  35 
Bedeiah,  ^Cheluhi ;  Vaniah,  Meremoth,  EHashib ;  Matta-  36,  37 
niah;  Mattenai,  and  ^Jaasu ;  and  Bani,  and  Binnui,  Shimei;  38 
and  Shelemiah,  and  Nathan,  and  Adaiah ;  Machnadebai,  39,  40 
Shashai,    Sharai ;   Azarel,   and    Shelemiah,    Shemariah ;  41 
Shallum,  Amariah,  Joseph.     Of  the  sons  of  Nebo  ;  Jeiel,  42,  43 
Mattithiah,  Zabad,  Zebina,  cjddo,  and  Joel,  Benaiah. 
All  these  had  taken  strange  wives  :  and  ^  some  of  them  44 
had  wives  by  whom  they  had  children. 

*  Another  reading  is,  Chelnhtt. 

^  Another  reading  is,  Joasai.         «=  Another  reading  is,  Jaddai. 

**  Or,  some  of  the  wives  had  home  children 

34.  Uel:  read  (with  Luc.  and  i  Esdras)  'Joel.' 
38.  and  Bani,  and  Binnui :  read  (with  LXX,  i  Esdras),  '  and  of 
the  sons  of  Binnui.'     The  difference  in  the  Hebrew  is  slight. 

44.  had  taken  :  cf.  the  Heb.  verb  rendered  '  married  '  in  ver.  a 
(see  on). 

strang-e  wives :  Hebrew,  as  in  ver.  2  (see  on),  '  strange 
women.' 

and  some  of  them,  &c. :  the  M.T.  is  hopelessly  corrupt,  and 
as  it  stands,  means  nothing.  There  is,  in  the  Commentary  of  Ber- 
theau-R3'ssel  a  statement  of  many  attempts  at  restoration,  not 
one  of  them  being  plausible.  It  is  better  to  follow  the  text  im- 
plied in  I  Esd.  ix.  36,  reading  'and  they  put  them  awa}'  with 
their  children.' 

Ezra's  Subsequent  History. 

In  Neh.  i,  i  we  pass  on  at  once  to  the  history  of  Nehemiah, 
the  account  of  Ezra's  activity  suddenly  coming  to  an  end.  Then 
the  thread  of  Ezra's  narrative  is  resumed  in  a  quite  unexpected 
way  at  Neh.  vii.  73^,  in  a  context  which  tells  of  Nehemiah's  life 
and  work,  Ezra's  name  not  occurring  once.  This  isolated  section 
(Neh.  vii.  73^-x)  relates  to  Ezra  and  his  doings,  Nehemiah's  name 
coming  quite  casually  in  at  two  places  (Neh.  viii.  9  and  x.  22,  see 
on),  and  then  almost  certainly  through  a  copyist's  mistake  or  as 
an  editor's  gloss.  The  contents  of  this  Ezra  section  in  a  Nehe- 
miah context  may  be  thus  laid  out : — 

I.  The  public  reading  of  the  law  (vii.  73^-viii.  la).    After  the 


156  EZRA  10 

events  recorded  in  Ezra  ix  f.  it  was  quite  natural  to  proclaim 
publicly  the  law  by  which  the  people's  lives  were  to  be  regulated. 

2.  Observance  of  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  (viii.  13-18;. 

3.  Repentance  and  prayer  of  the  people  on  finding  that  their 
conduct  came  so  far  short  of  the  law  now  read  (ix). 

4.  The  people  make  a  covenant  to  observe  the  law  (x). 

That  the  section  thus  analysed  originally  followed  Ezra  x,  and 
belongs  strictly  to  Ezra's  biography,  not  Nehemiah's,  appears  on 
several  considerations. 

1.  This  agrees  with  the  order  of  events  in  i  Esdras,  where  the 
reading  of  the  law  (i  Esd.  ix.  37-55,  of.  Neh.  vii.  73*'-viii.  12) 
follows  the  expulsion  of  the  strange  women  (i  Esd.  viii.  68-ix. 
36,  cf.  Ezra  ix  f.). 

2.  The  sequence  of  events  in  Josephus  (Auh'q.  xi.  5)  is  identical 
with  that  of  i  Esdras,  though  too  much  weight  should  not  be  put 
on  this,  as  throughout  Josephus  follows  the  apochryphal  i  Esdras 
rather  than  the  canonical  Ezra. 

3.  In  the  section  under  consideration  (Neh.  vii.  73**  ff.)  Ezra 
suddenly  steps  forward,  becoming  the  chief  agent,  and  as  suddenly 
disappears.  Omitting  this  part  of  Nehemiah  the  rest  of  the  book 
is  continuous  and  homogeneous. 

4.  In  the  corresponding  portion  of  i  Esdras  and  Josephus  no 
mention  is  made  of  Nehemiah,  which  is  in  favour  of  omitting  his 
name  from  Neh.  viii.  9  and  x.  22. 

5.  In  this  section  Nehemiah  comes  before  us  as  '  the  Tirshatha  ' 
(viii.  9,  X.  i),  an  epithet  used  besides  only  of  Sheshbazzar  (vii.  65, 
73  ;  Ezra  ii.  63^,  whereas  in  the  undisputed  Nehemiah  memoirs  he 
is  called  pekhah  or  governor  (Neh.  v.  14  f.,  18). 

6.  We  read  in  viii.  13  of  '  heads  of  fathers'  houses  '  as  often  in 
Ezra  (see  p.  52  f.).  In  Nehemiah  the  technical  terms  are  quite 
different  (see  ii.  16,  iv,  8,  13,  v.  7,  17,  vii.  7,  xii.  40,  xiii.  11). 

7.  Many  turns  of  expressions  frequent  in  Nehemiah  are  absent 
from  these  chapters,  e.  g.  '  According  to  the  good  hand  of  my  God 
upon  me'  (ii.  8,  18;,  'God  put  into  my  heart'  (ii.  12  and  vii.  5). 
Moreover  Nehemiah  speaks  of  himself  in  the  first  person.  In 
Neh.  viii.  9,  x.  i  he  is  spoken  of  in  the  third  person — though  the 
name  has  to  be  rejected  in  both  cases.     See  on  the  verses. 

8.  Removing  the  section  in  question,  Neh.  vii.  73*  and  xi.  i  (see 
on  the  latter)  join  well  together,  whereas  there  does  not  seem  to 
be  any  connexion  between  Neh.  x  and  xi.  Most  of  the  above 
points  were  noticed  and  the  same  conclusions  drawn  by  J.  D. 
Michaelis  in  his  annotated  translation  into  German  of  the  Hebrew 
Bible  (1769-83,  13  vols.). 

Such  is  the  view  accepted  by  virtually  all  modern  scholars, 
though  Keil  vigorously  defends  the  historical  continuity  of  these 
chapters  (see  Com  ,  Introd.),  holding  with  Bertheau  (not  his  editor 
RysseH,  .Schultz,  &c.,  that  during  the  events  here  related  Nehemiah 


EZRA  10  157 

was  present  at  Jerusalem,  though  Ezra  occupied  now  the  chief 
place,  as  the  work  (reading  the  law,  &c.)  was  much  more  on  the 
lines  of  his  activity. 

From  the  fact  that  Nehemiah's  name  occurs  twice  it  has  been 
commonly  inferred  that  the  final  editor  of  Ezra-Nehemiah  took 
this  section  to  belong  to  Nehemiah's  own  history,  but  this  is 
more  than  doubtful  (see  on  Neh.  viii.  9  and  x.  i).  It  is  more 
likely  that  the  copyist,  piecing  his  skin-leaves  called  '  doors'  in 
Jer.  xxxvi.  23)  to  form  the  parchment  roll,  mixed  the  parts,  his 
mistake  being  perpetuated  by  other  copyists  who  followed.  It  is 
also  in  this  way  probably  that  we  are  able  to  explain  the  present 
position  of  Ezra  iv.  6-23  (see  on),  which  has  nothing  to  do  with 
the  time  of  Ezra  or  the  events  amid  which  he  moved. 

It  seems  clear  that  so  far  as  biblical  sources  go  the  account  of 
Ezra's  work  closes  with  Ezra  x  adding  Neh.  vii,  73''-x.  Not- 
withstanding all  that  has  been  said  to  the  contrary  (see  Keil, 
Bertheau,  Ryle,  &c.)  it  cannot  be  that  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  were 
both  present  at  Jerusalem  during  the  course  of  the  events  nar- 
rated in  Neh.  vii.  73''-x,  though  it  is  quite  certain  that  Ezra  was, 
and  held  the  first  place. 

Conspectus  of  the  Chief  Events  in  Ezra's  Life 

according  to  Ezra  vii-x  and  Neh.  vii.  73^-x,  attaching  Ezra  iv. 
7-23  to  the  records  of  a  later  time,  perhaps  to  the  events  among 
which  Nehemiah  moved. 

1.  Ezra  and  his  party  begin  the  journey  from  Babylon  (vii.  6  (., 
viii.   15,   31). 

Date  :  year,  the  7th  of  Artaxerxes  I  (458  b.  c.)  ;  month,  ist ; 
day,  I  St. 

2.  They  reach  Jerusalem  (vii.  8f.). 

Date  :  year,  same ;   month,  5th  ;  day,  ist. 

3.  A  three  days'  rest,  on  the  4th  day  gifts  and  offerings  being 
presented  for  the  Temple  (viii.  12). 

Date  :  see  under  2  above. 

4.  Ezra  amazed  and  grieved  on  finding  that  many  of  the  Jews 
had  married  heathen  women  (ix). 

Date  :  None  given,  but  this  must  belong  to  the  days  immedi- 
ately following  the  arrival.  The  evil  was  too  palpable  and  serious 
to  escape  the  vigilant  eye  and  the  uncompromising  orthodoxy  of 
Ezra. 

5.  Appointment  of  a  commission  to  inquire  into  the  matter  and 
to  report  (x.  1-16), 

Date:  year,  7th  of  Artaxerxes  I;  month,  loth  (Tebet) ; 
day,  ist. 

6.  The  commission  meet ;  its  finding  (x.  17-44). 

Date  :  year,  8th  (see  above,  5);  month,  ist(Nisan);  day,  ist. 


158  EZRA  10 

7.  Departure  of  the  people  to  their  several  cities — their  ances- 
tral homes  (Neh.  vii.  73^). 

Date:  year,  as  in  6?  (inferred,  not  stated);  month,  7th 
(Tishri)  ;  day  ? 

8.  Public  reading  of  the  law  at  Jerusalem  (Neh.  viii.  1-12). 
Date  :  year,  8th  of  Artaxerxes  I  (inferred,  not  stated)  ;  month 

7th  (Tishri) ;  day,  ist.  Ezra  reads  the  law  publicly  the  same 
day  on  the  morning  (?)  of  which  the  people  depart  for  their 
several  homes. 

9.  Observance  of  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  (Neh.  viii.  8-18). 
Date:  year,  as  in  8.  above  ;    month,  7th  (Tishri);    day,  15th 

to  22nd. 

ID.  The  people  acknowledge  their  sin  (Neh.  ix)  and  make  a  vow 
(covenant)  to  put  away  the  heathen  wives  (Neh.  x). 

Date:  year,  as  above  in  6-9;  month,  7th  (Tishri);  day,  24th 
(two  days  after  Tabernacles)  and  (apparently)  following  days. 

For  details  as  to  the  several  episodes  enumerated  above  see  on 
the  passages  with  which  they  are  connected. 

Ezra's  death.  We  have  no  authoritative  record  of  Ezra's  career 
beyond  what  is  told  us  in  Ezra  and  Neh,  vii,  73'' -x,  though 
Josephus  ^  is  probably  right  in  saying  that  he  passed  away  before 
Nehemiah's  first  visit  to  Jerusalem.  We  have  no  definite  ground 
for  believing  that  they  ever  met,  nor  does  either  refer  to  the  other 
— this  is  quite  in  the  manner  of  Israel's  ancient  leaders  (e.  g. 
Micah  and  Isaiah,  &c.). 

When  and  where  Ezra  died  we  are  not  reliably  informed,  though 
Jewish  tradition  has,  withits  usual  readinessand  fertility  of  resource, 
supplied  what  history  lacks.  Summing  up  the  work  of  Ezra 
Josephus  *  says  :  '  After  he  had  obtained  this  reputation  among 
the  people  he  died  an  old  man  and  was  buried  in  a  magnificent 
manner  at  Jerusalem.*  He  is  said  in  the  Talmud  to  have  breathed 
his  last  at  Zamzagu  on  the  Tigris  while  on  his  way  from  Jerusa- 
lem to  Susa,  whither  he  was  journeying  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
ferring with  Artaxerxes  about  Jewish  affairs.  His  monument  on 
the  bank  of  the  Lower  Tigris  is  still  shown  and  greatly  revered  by 
Eastern  Jews. 

'  Antiq,  x.  5.  ■*  Antiq.  x.  5.  5. 


PLx\N  OF  JERUSALEM  IN  THE  TIME  OF  NEHEMIAH. 


MoOcrn    Wallt     ihown   Oli/J  ^^^^— 

AnQitnt       •  •  .      -  -  - 

Ho<ftrn Uqmea  m  brackets  {}NtSlt.RH  HILU) 


Sultans 
Pool 


NEHEMIAH 


General  outline  of  Nehemiah  (omitting  vii.  73*'-x). 

1.  Neh.  i.  i-vii.  5  :  Nehemiah's  description  in  the  first  person 
of  the  earlier  of  his  two  journeys  from  Persia  to  Jerusalem.  This 
narrative,  so  simple,  naive,  and  homogeneous,  has  hardly  ev«r  been 
questioned. 

2.  Neh.  vii.  6-73* :  List  of  Jews  who  returned  from  Babylon 
(based  on  Ezra  ii). 

3.  xi-xii.  26  :  Several  lists. 

4.  xii.  27-43:  Dedication  of  the  walls  of  Jerusalem, 

5.  xii.  44-47  :  Organization  of  the  Levites.  Measures  for  their 
support. 

6.  xiii.  1-3:  Separation  of  Israelites  from  people  of  mixed 
blood. 

7.  xiii.  4-9 :  Nehemiah's  second  visit  to  Jerusalem.  Expulsion 
of  Tobiah  from  the  Temple  ;  sanctity  of  the  latter  maintained. 

8.  xiii.  10-14  '■  Measures  for  the  support  of  the  Levites,  see  5. 

9.  xiii.  15-22  :  Means  employed  for  securing  the  observance  of 
the  Sabbath. 

10.  xiii.  23-29 :  Vigorous  protest  of  Nehemiah  against  mixed 
marriages. 

11.  xiii.  30  f. :  Resttine  of  Nehemiah's  work. 

Between  Ezra  and  Nehemiah. 

It  is  assumed  throughout  the  present  volume  that  Ezra  and 
Nehemiah  were  never  at  any  time  contemporaries  at  Jerusalem 
(see  p.  157  f.). 

Between  Ezra  x,  adding  Neh.  vii.  73*>-x  and  Neh.  i.  i  there  is 
no  historical  connexion,  and  a  space  of  some  ten  years  must  lie 
between.  One  may  compare  the  break  here  with  that  between 
Ezra  vi  and  vii,  though  the  gap  in  the  latter  is  much  wider. 
Perhaps  portions  of  Ezra-Nehemiah  which  dealt  with  the 
intervening  years  in  both  cases  have  been  lost. 

So  far  as  concerns  Ezra's  own  work  it  may  be  legitimate  to 
conclude  that  it  came  to  an  end  with  what  is  told  us  in  Neh.  x 
(or  viii?). 

The  evils  of  mixed  marriages  had  been  dealt  with  and  to  a  Urge 
M 


i6o  NEHEMIAH   1.  i.     N 

1      [N]  The  ^  words  of  Nehemiah  the  son  of  Hacaliah. 
Now  it  came  to  pass  in  the  month  Chislev,  t>in  the 

^  Or,  history  "'  Seech,  ii.  i. 

extent  mitigated.  Ezra  had  probably  died  (say  about  457  b.  c), 
for  in  the  history  of  Nehemiah 's  work  at  Jerusalem  (Neh.  i-vii.  5) 
he  is  not  mentioned,  nor  elsewhere  after  457  b.  c. 

In  Neh.  i.  i  we  are  all  at  once  transported  to  445  b.  c,  the 
year  of  Nehemiah's  first  arrival  at  Jerusalem.  What  happened 
in  this  interval  of  some  dozen  years  ?  For  the  answer  we  are  left 
largely  to  conjecture.  Probably  Ezra  iv.  6-23  (see  on)  belongs 
here.  The  Jews  seem  to  have  set  about  the  restoration  of  the 
walls  of  Jerusalem,  perhaps  before  Ezra  passed  away,  and  at  his 
instigation.  But  the  Samaritan  party  became  once  more  a  source 
of  annoyance  and  a  hindrance  to  their  pious  kinsmen,  and,  making 
sundry  charges  of  disloyalty,  &c.,  against  the  Jews,  induced  the 
Persian  king  to  issue  an  edict  putting  an  end  for  the  time  to  the 
work  and  (probably)  imposing  fresh  burdens  and  disabilities  upon 
the  builders.     It  is  to  these  latter  that  Neh.  i.  3  seems  to  allude. 

It  has  been  objected  that  if  previous  attempts  at  repairing  the 
wall  had  been  made  they  would  have  been  mentioned  in  Neh.  ii. 
3fF.  Moreover  (it  is  added),  if  earlier  prohibitory  edicts  had 
been  issued  their  withdrawal  would  have  been  spoken  of  when 
Nehemiah  is  allowed  to  begin  the  work.  It  is  forgotten,  however, 
that  in  Ezra-Nehemiah  we  have  what  is  evidently  but  an  imperfect 
sketch  of  the  history  of  the  time,  a  collection  of  fragments  from 
which  it  would  be  perilous  to  draw  a  priori  conclusions. 

I.  i-ii.  Nehemiah's  Sorrow  and  Prayer. 

1-3.  Nehemiah  receives  bad  tidings  concerning  the  Jerusalem  Jews. 
1.  The  words  of  .  .  .  Hacaliah:  the  original  heading  to 
Nehemiah's  autobiography  (i.   i-vii.  5). 

words:  better  'acts'  (cf.  i  Kings  xi.  41  'the  acts  of 
Solomon')  or  as  (R.  Vm.)  'history.'  But  the  Hebrew  is  neutral 
and  can  in  itself  bear  any  one  of  the  above  renderings. 

Nehemiah :  the  Heb.  =  ('  one  whom)  Yahweh  comforts ' ;  cf. 
the  meaning  of  Ezra  '  one  whom  Yahweh  helps.'  See  on  Ezra 
vii.  I.  We  read  of  two  others  bearing  the  name  'Nehemiah' 
(see  iii.  16  and  Ezra  ii.  2). 

Hacaliah:  read  (with  Bohme,  Cheyne,  and  Budde\  '  Khak- 
kel«yah'  ('-  trust  in  Yah'). 

Chislev :  Assyr.  Kisliwu,  the  ninth  month  ( =  our  Nov.-Dec). 
After  the  return  from  Babylon  the  Jews  adopted  the  Babylonian 
(Assyrian)  month-names  instead  of  their  own.  See  (for  both 
sets  of  names)  Schtirer(*),  i.  744  ff.  (E.V.  I.  ii.  763  ff.)  and  on 
Ezra  X.  17. 


NEHEMIAH  1.  2,  3.     N  161 

twentieth  year,  as  I  was  in  Shushan  the  ■''palace,  that  2 
Hanani,  one  of  my  brethren,  came,  he  and  certain  men 
out  of  Judah ;  and  I  asked  them  concerning  the  Jews 
that  had  escaped,  which  were  left  of  the  captivity,  and 
concerning  Jerusalem.     And   they  said    unto  me,  The  3 
^  Or,  cas/le 

in  the  twentieth  year :  these  words  are  a  dittograph  from 
ii.  I,  or,  more  likely,  they  occur  instead  of  a  lower  number  (19th  ?) 
through  a  copyist  passing  his  eye  to  the  beginning  of  the 
next  chapter.  If  we  retain  the  M.T.  ch.  ii  is  chronologically 
prior  to  ch.  i,  as  the  first  month  (Nisan,  ii.  i)  precedes  the  ninth 
(Chislev,  i.  i).  But  the  contents  of  these  chapters  make  this 
supposition  impossible.  See  on  ii.  i  for  the  king  whose  reign  is 
meant. 

Shushan  =  Susa,  the  capital  of  ancient  Elam,  made  by 
Cyrus  one  of  the  capitals  of  the  Persian  kingdom.  Other  capitals 
were  Ecbatana,  Persepolis,  and  Babylon.  The  king  held  his 
court  at  each  of  these,  perhaps  alternately.  They  were  really 
former  royal  residences  of  kingdoms  once  independent.  Shushan 
(Susa),  east  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  is  represented  by  the  modern 
mound  of  Shush,  fifteen  miles  south-west  of  Dizful  in  Persia. 

palace:  R.  Vm. '  castle,*  Lttc.  and  some  MSS.  of  the  LXX  ban's. 
The  Hebrew  word  seems  to  denote  a  fortified  place,  and  hence  is  ap- 
plied to  the  fortified  portion  of  Susa  here,  in  Esther,  and  also  in  Dan. 
viii.  2.  In  ii.  8,  vii.  2  it  is  used  for  the  citadel  or  castle  of  Jerusalem, 
in  I  Chron.  xxix.  i  of  the  Jerusalem  Temple,  and  in  the  Sachau 
papyri  (i.  i)  Yeb  (Elephantine)  and  Syene  are  so  designated. 

In  Esther  ix  '  Susa  the  fortress '  is  distinguished  from  Susa  the 
city  proper  (verses  13-15).  Recent  discoveries  show  that  the 
fortified  part  of  the  city  was  separated  from  the  rest  of  Susa 
by  the  river  Choaspes.  See  on  Esther  ii.  5  and  note  by  Driver 
on  Dan.  viii.  27  {Camb.  Bible). 

2.  (Hanani,  one  of  my)  brethren  :  render  'brothers';  a  literal 
brother  is  meant  as  vii.  2  shows. 

the  Jews  . . .  escaped  .  . .  captivity :  those  of  the  Babylonian 
exiles  who  had  come  to  Jerusalem,  the  remnant  of  such.  No  one 
without  a  previously  adopted  theory  to  maintain  (as  Kosters,  &c.) 
would  interpret  these  words  as  referring  to  Jews  who  had  never 
left  the  home-land,  holding  that  as  yet  no  return  had  taken  place. 
According  to  Kosters  and  v.  Hoonacker  the  first  return  of  exiles 
was  under  Ezra,  who  is  held  to  have  laboured  subsequently  to 
Nehemiah,  see  p.  25  ff. 

3.  The  reference  seems  to  be  to  the  situation  implied  in  Ezra 
iv.  7-23,  see  above,  p.  84  f. 

M    2 


i62  NEHEMIAH   1.4,5.     N 

remnant  that  are  left  of  the  captivity  there  in  the  pro- 
vince are  in  great  affliction  and  reproach  :  the  wall  of 
Jerusalem  also  is  broken  down,  and  the  gates  thereof  are 

4  burned  with  fire.  And  it  came  to  pass,  when  I  heard 
these  words,  that  I  sat  down  and  wept,  and  mourned  cer- 
tain days ;  and  I  fasted  and  prayed  before  the  God  of 

5  heaven,  and  said,  I  beseech  thee,  O  Lord,  the  God  of 

Kosters  ^  and  Marquart  ^  say  that  it  is  to  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem  in  586  B.C.  that  this  verse  refers.     But  this  cannot  be. 

1.  The  event  impHed  must  be  something  recent  or  Nehemiah 
could  not  have  been  surprised  to  hear  of  it.  How  could  Nehemiah 
in  445  be  astonished  at  hearing  of  the  great  ruin  of  Jerusalem  and 
its  Temple  140  years  and  more  ago? 

2.  Nehemiah  would  be  sure  to  know  of  the  royal  edict  stopping 
the  building  of  the  walls  (Ezra  vi.  17  ff.),  yet  he  could  hardly  at  so 
great  a  distance  have  known  of  the  sufferings  of  the  Jews  at  home 
or  the  actual  condition  of  the  city. 

3.  There  seems  to  be  in  Neh.  vi.  6  an  underl3nng  reference  to 
an  earlier  edict  against  the  building  of  the  walls :  '  It  is  reported 
.  .  .  that  thou  and  the  Jews  think  to  rebel '  (against  the  ro3'al 
edict,  &c.). 

the  province:  see  on  Ezra  ii.  i. 

in  gfreat  afB.iction,  &c.  to  end  :  see  ii.  3,  17. 

wall  .  .  .  broken  down:  to  make  further  defiance  impossible  : 
see  2  Kings  xiv.  13. 

4-n.  Nehemiah'' s  grief ;  his  confession  and  prayer,  both  the  latter 
bearing  a  strong  liturgical  character. 

4.  With  Nehemiah's  manifestations  of  grief  compare  those  of 
Ezra  (Ezra  ix.  3-5,  x.  6). 

sat  down:  see  Job  ii.  13. 

certain  (days) :  better  '  some  (  =  '  a  few  ')  days.' 

the  God  of  heaven :  see  on  Ezra  vi.  9. 

5.  O  IiOSD  :  Heb.  Yahweh  (Jehovah),  always  in  the  E.W. 
written  Lord  with  small  capitals  except  in  four  (R.V.  six) 
places,  where  Jehovah  occurs.  For  some  centuries  b.  c,  this  sacred 
name  was  avoided,  and  instead  of  it  the  Hebrew  word  for  Lord 
(Adonai)  substituted  as  is  the  custom  among  modern  Jews.  It  is 
this  substituted  word  which  is  translated  in  the  LXX  and  other 
versions  (not  the  French).  This  is,  however,  the  only  example 
of  the  use  in  Nehemiah  of  this  Divine  name.  It  is  the  distinctive 
name  for  Israel's  God  as  such. 

*  op.  cit.  p.  60.  *  op,  cit.  p.  57  f. 


NEHEMIAH   1.  6-S.     N  163 

heaven,  the  great  and  terrible  God,  that  keepeth  cove- 
nant and  mercy  with  them  that  love  him  and  keep  his 
commandments  :    let  thine   ear  now  be   attentive,   and  6 
thine    eyes    open,  that    thou  mayest  hearken  unto  the 
prayer  of  thy  servant,  which  I  pray  before  thee  at  this 
time,   day  and  night,  for  the  children  of  Israel  thy  ser- 
vants, while  I  confess  the  sins  of  the  children  of  Israel, 
which  we  have  sinned  against  thee  :  yea,  I  and  my  father's 
house  have  sinned.    We  have  dealt  very  corruptly  against  7 
thee,  and  have  not  kept  the  commandments,  nor  the 
statutes,  nor  the  judgements,  which  thou  commandedst 
thy  servant  Moses.      Remember,    I   beseech  thee,  the  8 
word  that  thou  commandedst  thy  servant  Moses,  saying, 
If  ye  trespass,  I  will  scatter  you  abroad  among  the  peoples  : 

the  great  and  terrible  Qod :  see  iv.  14,  ix.  32  ;  Deut.  vii,  ai, 
X.  17 ;  Dan.  ix.  4. 

that  keepeth  covenant,  &c. :  see  ix.  32 ;  Deut.  vii.  9;  i  Kings 
viii.  23,  &c. 

6.  let  thine  ear  now  he  attentive :  sever,  ii ;  a  Chron.  vi.  40 ; 
Ps.  cxxx.  2.  The  now  of  this  verse  is  that  of  entreaty  (Heb.  no), 
not  the  now  of  time  (Heb.  'atah). 

thine  eyes  open :  so  2  Chron.  vi,  40. 

thy  servant  =  '  me '  with  the  added  feehng  of  humility.  In 
respectful  address  to  a  superior  the  word  servant  is  often  used  to 
form  personal  pronouns.  Thus  '  thy  servant '  =  I  or  me  (Gen. 
xviii.  3;  I  Sam.  xx.  7f.);  Hhy  servants '  =  we  or  us.  See 
Gen.  xlii.  11 ;  Num.  xxxi.  49. 

day  and  night:  see  Acts  xx.  31. 

confess  . . .  sins  . . .  which  we  have  sinned :  see  on  Ezra  x.  i, 
*l.  We  (have  dealt,  &c.) :  see  on  Ezra  x.  i. 

commandments  .  .  .  statutes  .  .  .  judgements:  found 
together  as  summing  up  the  law;  also  Deut.  v.  31,  vi.  vii.  11,  xi. 
For  the  distinction  between  the  words,  see 'Psalms '  (Century 
Bible),  vol.  ii,  p.  254. 

which  thou  commandedst,  &c. :  see  Deut.  vi.  i,  &c. 
8.  Sememher  ...  the  word:  nothing  in  the  O.  T.  corresponds 
exactly  to  the  language  cited ;  the  nearest  equivalent  is  perhaps 
Deut.  XXX.  1-5  ;   cf,  Deut.  iv.  27,  xxviii,  64.     See  in  Ezra  ix.   11 
(a  similar  case  . 

trespass :  sec  on  Ezra  x.  2. 


i64  NEHEMIAH  1.  9-11.     N 

9  but  if  ye  return  unto  me,  and  keep  my  commandments 
and  do  them,  though  your  outcasts  were  in  the  uttermost 
part  of  the  heaven,  yet  will  I  gather  them  from  thence, 
and  will  bring  them  unto  the  place  that  I  have  chosen  to 

10  cause  my  name  to  dwell  there.  Now  these  are  thy  ser- 
vants and  thy  people,  whom  thou  hast  redeemed  by  thy 

1 1  great  power,  and  by  thy  strong  hand.  O  Lord,  I  beseech 
thee,  let  now  thine  ear  be  attentive  to  the  prayer  of  thy 
servant,  and  to  the  prayer  of  thy  servants,  who  delight  to 
fear  thy  name  :  and  prosper,  I  pray  thee,  thy  servant  this 


9.  return :  the  Hebrew  means  primarily  to  make  a  turn,  to 
change  the  direction  ;  cf.  A.  V.  '  turn.'  But  it  comes  to  mean 
more  usually  '  return.* 

unto  the  place,  &c.  :  the  phraseology  is  Deuteronomic,  see 
Deut.  xii.  5,  &c.,  and  cf.  Ezra  vi.  12.  The  place  meant  is  of 
course  Jerusalem,  though  it  is  not  mentioned  in  connexion 
with  the  phrase,  and  Prof.  A.  Duff  has  ably  argued  that  a  city 
in  the  Northern  Kingdom  is  what  Deuteronomy  originally 
intended^. 

10.  For  the  phraseology  see  Deut.  vii.  8,  ix.  26,  29;  and  cf. 
Exod.  iii.  19. 

redeemed :  the  Hebrew  word  {padah)  is  used  specially  of 
freeing  slaves.  For  other  verbs  so  rendered  see  on  Ps.  Ixxiv.  2 
{Century  Bible). 

11.  OLord:  in  Nehemiah  only  hereandiv.  8;  see  ver.  5(Lord). 
thy  servant . . .  thy  servants :  see  on  ver.  6.   Here,  as  follow- 
ing Lord  (not  Lord  =  Yahweh),  very  appropriate. 

Note  the  apparent  paradox  in  delight  to  fear,  but  'to  fear 
God'  is  the  O.  T.  expression  for  to  reverence  and  obey  Him. 
See  Ps.  ii.  11,  xxii.  23. 

thy  name  =  '■  thee '  (with  emphasis).  The  word  name  with 
the  appropriate  pronoun  ('my,'  'th}','  &c.)  is  constantly  used 
in  the  O.  T.  of  God  as  an  emphatic  personal  pronoun,  '  myself,' 
'thyself.'  In  Ps.  Iv.  6  'unto  thee'  stands  in  parallelism  to  '  unto 
thy  name.'  This  usage  arises  from  the  emplo3'ment  of  '  name  '  in 
the  sense  of  revealed  character,  the  person  as  named  and  thus 
known  :  see  on  Ps.  Ixxix.  9,  Ixxxiii.  16,  cxxiv.  8  (Century  Bible)  ; 
cf.  '  thy  servant '  in  ver.  6,  &c. 


*  See  Old  Test.  Theology,  vol.  ii,  '  The  Deuteronomic  Reformation.' 


NEHEMIAH  2.  i.     N  165 

day,  and  grant    him  mercy  in  the  sight   of   this  man. 
(Now  I  was  cupbearer  to  the  king.) 

And  it  came  to  pass  in  the  month  Nisan,in  the  twentieth  2 
year  of  Artaxerxes  the  king,  when  wine  was  before  him, 

mercy:  in  the  Old  English  sense  of  pity,  compassion.  The 
Hebrew  words  here  =  'make  me'  (lit.  *  thyself,'  see  on  ver.  6)  'to 
be  an  object  of  compassionate  regard  in  the  eyes  of  this  man'  (i.  e. 
the  King  of  Persia). 

I.  ii*=-II  (end).  Nehemiah  requests  and  obtains  the  King's 
Permission  to  visit  Jerusalem  for  the  Purpose  of  re- 
building THE  Walls  and  restoring  Social  Order. 

i.  ii°-ii.  8.   The  king's  favourable  response  to  Nehemiah' s  request. 

II.  Zfow  Z  was  cupbearer,  &c. :  these  words  belong  to  the 
next  chapter,  which  it  appropriately  introduces. 

cupliearer:  Heb.  lit.  =  '  one  who  causes'  or  *  gives  to  drink.' 
The  absence  of  the  definite  article  (though  in  the  A.  V.  it  is 
inaccurately  prefixed  'the  cupbearer')  suggests,  what  is  other- 
wise known  to  be  the  case,  that  the  king  would  have  two  or  more 
cupbearers  who  relieved  one  another  :  see  i  Kings  x.  5 ;  2  Chron. 
ix.  4;  Gen.  xl.  2  ('chief  of  the  cupbearers,*  E.VV.  wrongly  'of 
the  butlers');  2  Kings  xviii.  17.  The  duties  of  the  office  are 
enumerated  by  Xenophon  {Cyro.  i.  3  f.)  and  by  Herodotus  (iii.  24). 
The  cupbearer's  principal  occupation  was  to  taste  the  wine  before 
he  handed  it  to  the  king,  as  a  proof  that  it  was  free  from  poison 
(see  ii.  i).  Those  who  held  the  office  had,  at  least  in  the  time  of 
Ktesias  (d.  circa  390  B.C.),  to  be  eunuchs,  and  it  is  not  improbable 
that  Nehemiah  was  one,  for  we  never  read  of  his  having  a  wife, 
though  this  last  is  true  of  Ezra  too.  The  title  Rabshakeh  in 
2  Kings  xviii.  17  and  the  parallel  passage  Isa,  xxxvi.  2  is  Babylo- 
nian, and  means  'principal  military  officer'  (so  nearly  all  modern 
scholars)  and  not  'cupbearer,'  as  Ryle,  Whitehouse,  and  (latterly) 
Zimmern  ^  say.  Nehemiah,  as  cupbearer,  had  peculiarly  favourable 
opportunities  of  becoming  intimate  with  his  royal  master, 
ii.  I.  the  moutli  Nisau :  see  on  Ezrax.  17. 

the  twentieth  year  of  Artaxerxes :  i.  e.  of  Artaxerxes  I 
(Longimanus),  whose  reign  began  in  464  b.  c.  and  ended  with  his 
death  in  424  b.  c.  The  twentieth  year  of  his  reign  would  be 
therefore  444  b.  c. 

It  was  in  the  seventh  and  eighth  years  of  the  same  king  that  Ezra 
accomplished  his  work  at  Jerusalem  (see  Conspectus,  &;c. ,  p.  157  f.). 

There  were,  however,two  later  Persian  kings  bearing  the  same 
name,  viz.  Artaxerxes  II  (Mnemon,  404-359  b.  c.)  and  Arta- 
xerxes III  (Ochus  359-338).     Since  the  bare  name  is  used  in  Ezra 

'  KATS^^  651. 


i66  NEHEMIAH  2.  2,  3.     N 

that  I  took  up  the  wine,  and  gave  it  unto  the  king.  Now 
a  I  had  not  been  beforetinie  sad  in  his  presence.  And  the 
king  said  unto  me,  Why  is  thy  countenance  sad,  seeing 
thou  art  not  sick?  this  is  nothing  else  but  sorrow  of 
3  heart.  Then  I  was  very  sore  afraid.  And  I  said  unto  the 
king,  Let  the  king  Hve  for  ever :  why  should  not  my 
countenance  be  sad,  when  the  city,  the  place  of  my 
fathers'  sepulchres,  lieth  waste,  and  the  gates  thereof 

and  here,  much  discussion  has  arisen  as  to  which  is  intended  (see 
on  Ezravii.  i).  There  has  been  similar  disputing  as  to  the  Darius 
of  Ezra  iv.  24,  v.  i,  &c.,  since  there  were  other  Persian  kings  of 
that  name  :  see  on  the  above  passages. 

(when  wine  was  before)  him:  read  (with  LXX)  'me' 
== '  when  I  had  charge  of  the  wine  '  (Siegfried,  &c.).  The  error 
in  Hebrew  arose  through  a  haplography,  i.  e.  writing  the  same 
letter  (waw)  twice,  a  common  clerical  mistake. 

Wow  I  had  not,  &c.  :  read  and  render,  '  Now  I  had  not  been 
beforetime  sad,'  omitting  in  his  presence  and  removing  the  italics 
from  beforetime.  The  difference  in  Hebrew  is  in  one  only  of 
the  consonants.  The  M.  T.  =  '  Now  I  was  not  sad  in  his  presence,' 
which  contradicts  the  facts. 

2.  Why  is  thy  countenance  sad?  &c.  :  the  cupbearer  was 
expected  to  be  cheerful  and  cheering.  That  Nehemiah's  sadness 
was  not  due  to  physical  illness  was  proved  by  his  appearance  and 
the  fact  that  he  had  not  requested  leave  of  absence. 

sorrow  of  heart :  i.  e.  *  sadness,'  &c.,  the  noun  being  cognate 
with  the  adjective  rendered  'sad.'  In  i  Sam.  xvii.  28  the  same 
Hebrew  words  are  rightly  rendered  '  naughtiness  of  heart.'  Both 
adjective  and  noun  have  primarily  ethical  meanings.  Cf.  our 
'bad  '  or  'good  health,'  '  bad'  or  '  good  tidings,'  &c. 

Then  Z  was  very  sore  afiraid,  lest,  having  explained  his 
trouble  and  his  request,  the  king  might  deny  him  the  favour  it  was 
in  his  mind  to  ask. 

3.  Let  the  king*  live  for  ever  :  the  usual  formula  at  the  open- 
ing of  an  address  to  the  king:  see  Dan.  ii.  4,  iii.  9,  See  also 
I  Kings  i.  31  (Bathsheba  to  Solomon). 

the  city,  the  place  of  my  fathers'  sepulchres :  Nehemiah 
was  therefore  a  Jerusalemite  by  descent,  i.e.  he  belonged  to  the 
tribe  of  Judah. 

place  :  in  Hebrew  the  word  used  for  house,  but  also  for  a 
containing  place  or  space,  e.  g.  Isa.  iii.  20,  '  perfumed  boxes,'  lit. 
'  houses  of  perfume  '  ;  Exod.  xxvi.  29,  xxxv.  34,  '  places  (' houses ') 
for  the  bars'  ;    Ezek.  xli.  9,   'place  ('house')  of  the  side  cham- 


NEHEMIAH  2.  4-6.     N  167 

are  consumed  with  fire  ?     Then  the  king  said  unto  me,  4 
For  what  dost  thou  make  request  ?     So  I  prayed  to  the 
God  of  heaven.     And  I  said  unto  the  king,  If  it  please  5 
the  king,  and  if  thy  servant  have  found  favour  in  thy 
sight,  that  thou  wouldest  send  me  unto  Judah,  unto  the 
city  of  my  fathers'  sepulchres,  that  I  may  build  it.     And  6 
the  king  said  unto  me,  (the  queen  also  sitting  by  him,) 
For  how  long  shall  thy  journey  be  ?  and  when  wilt  thou 

bers.'  Cf.  also  the  numerous  place-names  compounded  with 
Beth  (house),  as  Bethlehem  =  '  House  of  Bread,'  i.e.  place  where 
wheat  is  abundant,  &c. 

Ryleand  Bertholet  are  hardly  justified  in  pressing  the  literal 
sense  '  house,'  from  the  fathers  having  been  buried  in  the  house 
(cf,  I  Sam.  XXV.  i  ;  i  Kings  ii.  34),  i.  e.  in  the  garden  attached  to 
the  house  (cf.  2  Kings  xxi.  18). 

The  ancients  attached  great  importance  to  the  honour  of 
proper  interment,  and  paid  the  deepest  respect  to  the  burial-places 
of  ancestors.     See  on  Ps.  Ixxix.  3  {Century  Bible). 

consumed:  lit.  'eaten,'  as  in  ver.  13,  In  ver.  17,  i.  3,  &c., 
the  word  is  *  burnt.' 

4.  Per  what  dost  thou  make  request  ?  Either  Nehemiah  had 
indicated  in  wrords  that  he  had  a  request  to  make  or  his  appearance 
suggested  the  king's  question. 

I  prayed  :  i.  e.  inwardly.    Nehemiah  was  pre-eminently  a  man 
of  prayer  ;  see  iv.  4,  9,  v.  19,  vi.  9,  14,  xiii.  14. 
God  of  heaven :  see  on  Ezra  vi.  9. 

5.  If  itplease  the  king",  &c. :  the  regular  formula  when  making  pro- 
posals to  the  king.  It  occurs  very  often  in  Esther  (seei.  igjii.  9,  &c.). 

build  :  the  Hebrew  word  means  also,  as  here,  *  to  rebuild.' 
So  Ezra  v.  13,  15,  17,  vi.  3,  &c.  Here  it  refers  specifically  to  the 
repairing  of  the  walls,  as  in  Ezra  iv.  12,  16,  21. 

6.  the  queen,  &c  :  the  queen  (called  Damasias  according  to 
Ktesias)  here  separately  mentioned  on  account  of  the  influence 
she  had  over  her  husband.  Cf.  Queen  Esther  and  the  part  she 
played  in  directing  her  husband's  policy.  Persian  kings  acted 
much  as  their  queens  guided  them. 

The  word  rendered  queen  occurs  besides  only  in  Ps.  xlv.  9, 
and  judging  from  Assyrian  etymology  it  denotes  strictly  a  member 
of  the  royal  harem,  a  palace  woman.  But  it  was  the  principal 
member  who  acted  as  queen,  she  having  all  the  more  influence 
because  she  owed  her  supreme  position  to  her  continued  charms. 
Such  a  woman  had  in  those  times  far  more  completely  the  ear  and 
heart  of  the  husband  than  a  one-wife  queen  could  have. 


i68  NEHEMIAH  2.  7,  8.     N 

return  ?     So  it  pleased  the  king  to  send  me  ;  and  I  set 

7  him  a  time.  Moreover  I  said  unto  the  king,  If  it  please 
the  king,  let  letters  be  given  me  to  the  governors  beyond 
the  river,  that  they  may  let  me  pass  through  till  I  come 

8  unto  Judah ;  and  a  letter  unto  Asaph  the  keeper  of  the 
king's  ^  forest,  that  he  may  give  me  timber  to  make  beams 
for  the  gates  of  the  castle  which  appertaineth  to  the  house, 

*  Or,  park 

I  set  him  :  better  read  with  Winckler  ^,  '  he  set  me.' 
time :    a  period  of  twelve  years — the  space  of  Nehemiah's 
first  absence  —  could  hardly  have  been  in  the  mind  of  either  the 
king  or  his  cupbearer.     It  probably  grew  to  that  through  unex- 
pected difficulties  in  the  building  and  in  the  administration. 

7.  letters :  see  on  Ezra  iv.  8.  The  letters  would  be  written 
in  Aramaic,  the  language  of  diplomacy  at  this  time,  see  p.  13.  We 
are  probably  to  think  of  parchment  rolls  as  the  material  (see  Jer. 
xxxvi.  I,  2,  4),  ink  (Jer.  xxxvi.  18),  and  an  iron  stylus  (Jer.  xvii. 
i)  or  reed  pen  (Ezek.  ix.  2)  being  employed  in  writing.  See  on 
Ezra  iv.  8.  The  Tel-el-Amarna  tablets  prove  that  in  1400  b.  c. 
letters  were  written  on  clay  tablets  dried  in  the  sun  or  baked  in 
a  kiln,  and  that  they  were  in  the  cuneiform  character.  The  Tel-el- 
Amarna  letters  were  baked  in  kilns,  see  on  Ezra  vi.  2. 

governors  beyond  the  river  :  the  '  pekhahs  '  or  *  governors 
of  Transpotamia '  :  see  on  Ezra  iv.  10  (for  the  designation  Trans- 
potamia)  and  on  Ezra  viii.  36  and  ver,  9  (for  governors,  &c.). 

that  they  may  let  me  pass,  &c.  :  suggesting  the  existence 
among  the  governors  of  a  feeling  of  opposition  to  the  project  Nehe- 
miah  had  at  heart.  See  on  Ezra  iv.  7-23,  and  at  p.  160,  where  it  is 
held  that  this  section  belongs  to  a  time  not  long  before  Nehemiah's 
first  visit. 

8.  Asaph :  otherwise  unknown.  The  name  suggests  that  he 
was  a  Jew,  and  therefore  probably  a  native  of  Jerusalem. 

king's  forest :  since  Ewald's  time  most  scholars  identify  this 
with  the  *  Garden  of  Solomon,'  close  to  Etam,  some  half-dozen 
miles  to  the  south  of  Jerusalem  (see  Josephus,  Anttq.,  viii.  7,  3). 
The  forest  of  Lebanon  is  too  far  away  to  be  intended  here  ;  the 
timber  wanted  must  have  been  near. 

The  word  rendered  forest  is  the  Hebrew  form  of  '  paradise,' 
originally  a  Persian  word.  The  same  word  in  Eccles.  ii.  5  and 
Cant.  iv.  13  means  ^park.' 

for  the  gates  of  :  Mommert  (iv.  4)  connects  these  words  with 
wall  and  house,  rendering  *  for  the  gates  of  the  castle  .  .  .  and  for 

^  Altor.  Forsch.  ii.  Series  iii,  2.  473. 


NEHEMIAH  2.  9.     N  169 

and  for  the  wall  of  the  city,  and  for  the  house  that  I  shall 
enter  into.     And  the  king  granted  me,  according  to  the 
good  hand  of  my  God  upon  me.     Then  I  came  to  the  9 
governors  beyond  the  river,  and  gave  them  the  kings 

the  city  wall  and  for  the  house,'  &c.       But  the  Hebrew  cannot 
yield  this  translation. 

the  castle  :  Heb.  hab-birah,  as  in  ver.  i  (see  on).  A  fortress 
on  the  north  side  of  the  Temple,  first  mentioned  here  and  vii.  2. 
It  is  referred  to  later  in  i  Macc.xiii.  52  ;  Acts  xxi.  37  and  xxii.  24. 
It  seems  to  have  been  erected  between  536  and  445,  probably  at 
the  time  the  Temple  was  restored  about  520,  though  nothing  more 
definite  is  known.  Later  names  were  Ban's  and  Antonia  (see 
Josephus,  Wars,  i.  3,  3,  &c.).  Mommert,  curiously  (iv.  4),  under- 
stands by  the  castle  the  whole  wall-enclosed  Temple  area. 

accordiugf  to  tlie  gfood  hand  of  my  God :  see  ver.  18  and 
Ezra  vii.  6,  viii.  18,  22. 

9-16.  Nehemiah's  arrival  at  Jerusalem ;  his  tour  of  the  city  and 
his  impressions. 

9.  Gfoveruors  beyond  the  river:  since  Transpotamia  ('be- 
yond the  river ')  had  but  one  satrap,  the  word  'governors  '  must, 
as  in  the  Sachau  papyri,  include  the  local  governors  appointed  by 
the  satrap,  often,  as  in  the  case  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  and  in 
accordance  with  Persian  policy,  one  of  the  race  inhabiting  the 
subsatrapy.  The  use  of  the  word  pekhah  (plur.  here)  proves  that 
it  does  not  invariably  mean,  as  Meyer  holds,  satrap.  When  for 
purposes  of  administration  Darius  I  divided  his  greatly  extended 
kingdom  into  twenty  satrapies,  carrying  out  more  fully  the  policy 
of  Cyrus,  he  made  Babylon  and  Assyria  one  satrapy,  Syria, 
Phoenicia,  and  the  island  of  Cyprus  another,  and  Egypt  with 
contiguous  lands  a  third  ^  On  crossing  the  Euphrates  Nehemiah 
would  pass  through  one  satrapy  only  until  he  reached  Jerusa- 
lem ;  see  p.  50.  On  his  way  from  Shushan  he  would  be  likely  to 
make  a  halt  at  Babylon,  where  a  satrap  resided.  The  letters 
referred  to  in  ver.  7  would  include  one  to  this  satrap. 

Leaving  Babylon  and  crossing  the  Euphrates,  he  would  be  at 
once  in  what  the  present  writer  calls  Transpotamia.  The  direction 
would  nowlie  towards  Carchemish,  avoiding  the  Arabian  and  S3'rian 
deserts.  Thence  the  party  would  turn  southwards  to  Damascus, 
where  the  satrap  of  Transpotamia  almost  certainly  dwelt,  though 
before  reaching  the  S3'rian  capital  he  would  be  likely  to  encounter 
local  governors,  Arab  sheikhs,  &c.,  to  whom  he  would  present  what 
one  may  call  royal  passports.     Then  the  company  would  strike 

^  See  Duncker,  Gcschichte  des  Alterthums,  iv.  523  ff.  (E.W.  vi. 
315  ff.)  J  Meyer,  Geschichte  des  Alterthums^  iii.  49  ff. 


17©  NEHEMIAH  2.  lo.     N 

letters.     Now  the  king  had  sent  with  me  captains  of  the 

10  army  and  horsemen.    And  when  Sanballat  the  Horonite, 

and  Tobiah  the  servant,  the  Ammonite,  heard  of  it,  it 

southward  in  the  direction  of  Samaria,  taking,  it  is  probable,  the 
west  Jordan  route,  or  perhaps  that  east  of  the  Jordan,  crossing 
the  river  at  one  of  the  fords  between  the  sea  of  Galilee  and  the 
Dead  Sea.  At  Samaria  Nehemiah  would  meet  the  local  sub- 
satrap  or  governor,  who  was  probably  Sanballat.  To  the  latter 
he  would  present  the  usual  credentials  which,  as  explaining  the 
purpose  of  Nehemiah's  journey,  would  awaken  in  the  local  authori- 
ties the  liveliest  feelings  of  antagonism,  for  it  was  but  recently  (see 
pp.  84  f.  and  160)  that  they  had  thwarted  the  execution  of  the  very 
task  which  the  new  Jewish  leader  had  royal  authority  to  complete. 
captains,  &c.  :  Ezra  made  his  journey  without  a  military 
escort  (Ezra  viii.  22),  perhaps,  as  Bertheau  says,  because  he  was 
ashamed  as  a  professed  believer  in  Yahweh  to  question  the 
sufficiency  of  Divine  guidance. 

10.  Sanballat:  the  best  Heb.  MSS.  write  •  Saneballat.'  In  the 
LXX  and  Vulg.  it  is  '  Sanaballat '  (one  /  in  Luc),  in  Josephus 
*Sanaballet(es).'  The  word  is  Babylonian,  and  means  *  one  whom 
Sin  '  (the  Moon-god)  '  preserves  alive.' 

There  can  now  be  no  doubt  that  Sanballat  was  governor,  i.e.  sub- 
satrap  in  Samaria,  exercising  at  the  time,  it  is  extremely  likely, 
jurisdiction  over  Judah  and  even  over  other  adjoining  districts 
{SQG.  iv.  7,  Arabs,  Ammonites,  and  Ashdodites).  He  is  spoken  of 
in  the  Sachau  papyri  as  governor  {pekhah)  of  Samaria,  and  Josephus 
says^  (though  his  date  is  wrong,  see  p.  179)  that  he  was  sent  by 
the  last  king  '  (Darius  Codomannus,  338-331)  'into  Samaria.' 
Nehemiah  nowhere  calls  Sanballat  governor,  yet  he  brings  him 
into  connexion  with  Samaria  (see  iv.  2). 

the  Horonite :  this  is  generally  held  to  mean  a  native  of 
Beth-Horon,  north-west  of  Jerusalem,  at  that  time  belonging  to 
Samaria  (see  Joshua  xvi.  3,  5,  &c.).  This  agrees  with  what 
Josephus  says  ^  ('  He  was  a  Kuthean  '),  and  with  iv.  2  properly 
interpreted  (see  on).  Moreover,  the  language  in  iv.  2  suggests 
that  he  spoke  to  the  Samaritans  in  their  own  (his  own  ?)  language. 
So  Buhl*  and  G.  A.  Smiths 

Schlatter,  Winckler,  and  Bertholet  say  that  the  word  denotes 
'  a  native  of  Horonaim,'  a  south  Moabite  city  (see  Isa.  xv.  5  ; 
Jer.  xlviii.  3,  5,  34,  and  the  Moabite  stone).  This  is  thought  to 
explain  why  he  constantly  appears  in  conjunction  with  Tobiah 
the  Ammonite,  but  see  below. 

Tobiah   the    servant,   the    Ammonite:    the    fact   that    his 

^    §  29.  ^  Antiq.  xi.  7,  2.  ^  Ibid. 

*  Geog.  de^  alt.  Pal.  169.  "  Jerusalem^  ii.  336  f. 


NEHEMIAH  2.  u,  ra.     N  171 

grieved  them  exceedingly,  for  that  there  was  come  a  man 
to  seek  the  welfare  of  the  children  of  Israel.     So  I  came  n 
to  Jerusalem,  and  was  there  three  days.     And  I  arose  in  12 
the  night,  I  and  some  few  men  with  me ;  neither  told 


name  and  that  of  his  son  are  compounded  with  Yah  (short 
writing  of  Yahweh)  shows  that  he  was  a  Yahweh  worshipper, 
though  it  is  no  proof  of  his  being  a  Jew.  Those  who  belonged 
to  the  Samaritan  party  were  genuine  Yahwists  or  they  would  not 
have  wished  to  unite  in  restoring  the  Temple.  They  differed 
from  Jews  in  having  wider  sympathies  and  a  broader  creed,  and 
also  in  having  foreign  blood.  We  know  of  them  almost  exclusively 
from  what  their  rivals  have  written.  It  is  hardly  likely  that  'Am- 
monite' means  here,  as  G.  A.  Smith  is  inclined  to  think  ^,  a  native 
of  the  Benjamite  village  Chephar-ammoni  (Joshua  xviii.  24),  as  the 
word  occurs  often  elsewhere  and  invariably  in  the  ordinary  sense. 
Besides,  according  to  xiii.  4  ff.,  he  was  not  of  Jewish  descent.  Why 
should  not  this  man,  though  racially  an  Ammonite,  having  entered 
the  service  of  a  Yahwist,  have  embraced  his  master's  religion 
and  then  changed  his  name  according  to  a  common  custom  ? 

servant :  the  word  so  translated  means  often  a  slave  ;  Gen. 
xii.  16  ;  Exod.  xxi.  2,  &c.),  but  it  is  also  commonly  used  for 
officials  of  the  court  (see  Gen.  xl.  20,  1.  7;  Exod.  x.  7,  &c.)  and 
for  other  officials  of  quite  respectable  position  (see  2  Sam.  x.  2,  4, 
roj'al  messengers,  &c.). 

It  is  probable  that  Tobiah  was  the  secretary  of  Sanballat,  the 
governor  of  Samaria  :  see  vi.  17.  The  word  translated  'servant' 
is  by  no  means  inconsistent  with  this.  Winckler's  guess  "  (it  is  no 
more)  that  Tobiah  was  Sanballat's  son  is  not  worthy  of  serious 
consideration. 

it  grieved  them,  &c.,  because  their  former  successful  oppo- 
sition was  now  apparently  to  come  to  nought :  see  p.  160. 

a  man:  Heb.  'a  human  being'  (=  Gr.  mithropos,  L.  homo), 
used  contemptuously.  The  ordinary  word  for  man  as  dis- 
tinguished from  woman  is  ish  (=  Gr.  aner^  L.  vir^.  Perhaps, 
however,  the  sense  is  '  that  any  one  (man  or  woman)  had  come,' 
&c.  ;  the  use  of  the  same  Hebrew  word  in  ver.  12  favours  the  latter 
explanation. 

11.  Nehemiah  took  no  notice  of  the  Samaritan  ill-will,  but  went 
on  his  way.  With  the  royal  letters  even  Sanballat  could  net 
hinder  his  progress. 

With  ver.  11  cf.  Ezra  viii,  32,  which  is  almost  word  for  word 
the  same. 

12.  in  the  night :  to  avoid  being  seen. 


See  Encyc.  Bib.  i.  559.  '  KATS^"*  296. 


172  NEHEMIAH  2.  13.     N 

I  any  man  what  my  God  put  into  my  heart  to  do  for  Jeru- 
salem :  neither  was  there  any  beast  with  me,  save  the 
13  beast  that  I  rode  upon.     And  I  went  out  by  night  by  the 
valley  gate,  even  toward  the  dragon's  well,  and  to  the 

what  my  Ood  put  into  my  heart :    see  vii.   5  and  Ezra 

vii.  27. 

the  beast  that  I  rode  upon :  i.  e.  an  ass,  less  likely  a  mule. 
The  Hebrew  word  is  a  generic  one  for  horses,  asses,  and  mules, 
and  has  nearly  always  a  collective  sense.  Nehemiah  had  but  one 
animal,  to  obviate  suspicion ;  his  servants  would  walk,  just  as  is 
done  in  Palestine  at  the  present  time, 

13-15.  Nehemiali's  tottr  of  inspection.  It  will  be  seen  that  he 
began  and  ended  at  the  Valley  Gate,  having  made,  it  is  probable, 
a  complete  circuit  of  the  city  wall.  Dr.  E.  Robinson  ^  held  that 
Nehemiah,  when  he  reached  the  King's  Pool  (ver.  14),  descended 
from  the  beast,  which  was  hindered  from  going  further  by  the  ruin 
heaps,  and  proceeded  along  the  Kidron  way,  looking  at  the 
Temple  walls,  &c.  Returning  to  where  he  left  his  beast,  he 
made  the  journey  back  to  the  Valley  Gate  by  the  way  he  came. 
So  Professor  F.  F.  Wright,  who  says  ^  that  having  approached 
the  city  wall  by  the  northern  road  Nehemiah  had  no  further  need 
to  examine  the  northern  walls.  If,  as  the  present  writer  believes, 
Nehemiah  followed  the  entire  course  of  the  wall,  one  must  think 
of  him  as  on  foot  guiding  the  beast  where  the  heaps  of  debris 
made  riding  impossible.  See  a  further  statement  of  various  views 
in  Mommert,  vol.  (Theil)  iv.  5  ff.  We  have  in  these  verses,  in  iii. 
1-33  and  in  xii.  27-43,  the  completest  data  to  be  obtained  for 
reconstructing  the  plan  of  ancient  Jerusalem.  Notwithstanding 
the  mass  of  learned  and  ingenious  matter  which  has  been  written 
on  these  chapters,  much  uncertainty  still  attaches  to  details. 
References  might  be  made  to  the  large  volume  with  a  small 
volume  as  appendix  by  Carl  Mommert,  Topographic  des  alien 
Jerusalem  (1900-1907) ;  Jerusalem,  &c.,  by  George  Adam  Smith, 
D.D.,  2  vols,  (1907) ;  Ancient  Jerusalem,  by  Selah  Merrill  (1908), 
and  L,  B.  Paton,  Jerusalem  in  Bible  Times.  Dr.  Smith's  work  cannot 
be  too  highly  commended  for  its  sanity,  learning,  and  interesting 
style :  see  especially  vol.  i,  31  ff.  As  a  guide  to  the  notes  to 
these  topographical  sections  the  map  of  Jerusalem  in  the  time  of 
Nehemiah  will,  it  is  thought,  be  found  useful,  see  opposite  p.  159. 

13.  valley  gate :  the  name  suggests  that  this  gate  opened 
upon  the  Valley  of  Hinnom  {Wady-er-Rababi) ,  the  word  trans- 
lated 'valley'  {gat)  being  used  in  the  O.  T.  of  this  one  only  of. 

^  Bib.  Researches,  i,  474.  ^  PEF.,  1896,  172  f. 


NEHEMIAH  2.  13.     N  173 

dung  gate,  and  viewed  the  walls  of  Jerusalem,  which  were 

the  Jerusalem  valle3's  ^  It  must  have  lain  near  the  south-west 
corner  of  the  walls.  In  1894  Dr.  Bliss  ^  uncovered  the  remains  of 
an  ancient  gateway  at  the  south-west  corner  of  the  ancient  walls 
which  he,  Guthe,  Mitchell,  and  G.  A,  Smith  concluded  to  be  the 
site  of  this  gate,  though  the  distance  from  the  Dung  Gate  is  rather 
more  than  1,000  cubits  (see  iii.  33),  and  further  excavation 
has  shown  that  the  remains  are  not  very  ancient.  Formerly  this 
gate  was  placed  where  the  Jaffa  Gate  now  stands  :  so  Thenius,  Keil, 
Schick,  Ryle,  and  Harvie-Jellie  (on  2  Chron.  xxvi.  9,  Centnty  Bible). 

the  dragon's  well :  we  know  it  lay  somewhere  along  the 
direction  of  the  wall  between  the  Valley  and  Dung  Gates,  but 
where  exact!}'  we  have  no  data  to  determine.  It  has  been  com- 
monly identified  with  the  modern  Bir  Eyyttb  (Job's  Well),  which 
probably  represents  the  site  of  En-Rogel  (see  i  Kings  i.  9,  &c.), 
but  this  would  be  too  far  to  the  south-east  and  not  along  the  lie 
of  wall.  Perhaps,  as  G.  A.  Smith  ^  surmises,  it  was  a  spring, 
due  to  an  earthquake,  and  only  temporary  in  duration,  for  it  is 
not  mentioned  before  or  after  the  time  of  Nehemiah.  It  may  have 
received  its  name  from  the  belief  that  a  mythical  dragon  resided 
in  the  fountain  :  so  W.  Rob.  Smith,  Rel.  SemS'^'>  172,  and  most 
moderns:  but  this  is  very  problematical.  The  LXX  calls  it  'the 
Fig  Fountain,'  which  may  be  correct,  i.  e.  '  the  fountain  near  which 
figs  grow.'  Z,wc.  supports  the  M.T.  The  Hebrew  is  much  alike 
for  both.     The  Syr.  renders,  '  the  Gate  of  the  Hills.' 

the  dungf  grate  :  situated  probably  near  the  point  where  the 
Tyropoeon  Valley  {el-Wad)  joins  the  Valley  of  Hinnom  {Wady- 
er-Rababi),  perhaps  where  the  modern  Bab-el- Magharibe  stands. 
Some  identify  this  gate  with  the  Harsith  Gate  (Gate  of  Potsherds) 
mentioned  in  Jer.  xix.  2.  This  last  was  perhaps  the  gate 
through  which  potsherds  were  thrown,  or  rather,  outside  which 
on  a  rock,  as  now,  broken  earthenware  was  crushed  into  cement 
for  plastering  cisterns,  &c.*  The  name  Dung  Gate  (Heb.  and 
Syr.,  'Ashheap  Gate';  Luc,  LXX,  Vulg.,  'Dung  Hill  Gate') 
may  have  been  given,  as  Stade  and  others  after  him  say,  because 
the  refuse  of  the  city  was  conveyed  through  it.  Gall,^  followed 
hesitatingly  by  Bertholet,  sees  in  the  Hebrew  name  a  disguised 
form  of  Tophet,^  itself  a  disguised  form  of  Tephet,  and  so 
explains  :  '  The  Gate  leading  to  the  Molek  (a  disguised  form  of 
melek'^)  sanctuary  where  children  were  sacrificed.' 

and  viewed:   the  Hebrew  tense  is  continuous  =  'I  kept  on 

^  See  G.A.Smith,  Jems.  i.  171.        ^  PEF.,  1894,  149  ff.,  243  ff. 
'  op.  cit.  i.  74,  cf.  III. 

*  PER.,  1904,  p.  156.  5  Altis.  KuU.,  72. 

*  See  qf\  Ps.  cvi.  38  {Century  Bible). 

'  See  on  Ps.  cxxxii.  2  (Century  Bible). 


174  NEHEMIAH  2.  14,  15.     N 

broken  down,  and  the  gates  thereof  were  consumed  with 
M  fire.     Then  I  went  on  to  the  fountain  gate  and  to  the 

king's  pool :  but  there  was  no  place  for  the  beast  that  was 
15  under  me  to  pass.     Then  went  I  up  in  the  night  by  the 

viewing.'  The  Hebrew  verb  as  written  in  the  M.T.  (so  LXX) 
means  'to  break,'  and  has  been  here  explained:  'I  broke  my 
way  through  the  walls,'  i.  e.  the  fragments  of  walls.  Rashi 
interprets  literally,  and  says  that  Nehemiah's  purpose  was  to 
break  down  the  portions  of  wall  that  remained,  so  that  next  day 
the  Jews  might  be  willing  to  assent  to  his  proposal — a  very 
unlikely  thing  for  him  to  do.  By  changing  a  diacritical  point  on 
one  letter  (sh,  s) — making  no  difference  in  the  original  unpointed 
Hebrew  text — we  obtain  an  Aramaic  verb,  which  occurs 
in  the  intensive  form  (P/.)  in  the  sense  to  hope,  wait  for 
(see  Esther  ix.  i  ;  Ps.  civ.  21,  cix.  166,  cxlv.  15 ;  Isa.  xxxviii.  18). 
But  the  sense  'think,'  then  (with  the  preposition  here)  to  'think 
about,'  though  upheld  by  Baer,  Ginsburg,  and  Guthe,  cannot  be 
got  from  the  Aramaic,  in  which  the  simple  verb  means  '  to 
believe,'  'trust,'  and  the  intensive  (Pa.)  'to  hope  for,'  nor  from 
the  O.  T.  passages  cited  above,  in  which  the  verb  {Pi.)  =  'to 
hope,'  '  wait  for.'  Either  we  must  keep  the  verb  in  the  M.  T. 
and  explain  as  above,  '  to  break  through  '  =  to  make  way  among 
(the  walls%  or  we  must  decide  the  text  to  be  corrupt.  Perhaps 
we  should  read  shomer  for  shober,  which  requires  very  little 
change  in  the  Hebrew.  This  verb  means  often  *  to  closely 
scrutinize,'  as  in  i  Sam.  i.  12  ;  Job  xxxix.  i,  &c.  The  preposition 
following  often  introduces  the  object. 

walls:  so  Heb.,  M.T.,  Syr.,  and  Luc.  But  LXX  and 
Vulg.  have  the  sing.   '  wall.' 

consumed  :  see  on  ver.  3. 
14.  fountain  gate  :  probably  the  gate  which  lay  just  outside  the 
King's  Pool,  whence  it  had  its  name.  It  lay  at  the  junction  of  the 
Hinnom  and  Kidron  valleys,  at  the  southernmost  end  of  what  was 
once  a  busy  street.  It  would  be  a  httle  to  the  north-east  of  the 
Dung  Gate:  see  plan  of  Jerusalem  opposite  p.  159. 

the  king's  pool:  probably  =  the  modern  Birket-el-H antra 
('the  Red  Pool')  :  see  plan  of  Jerusalem,  opposite  p.  159,  It  seems 
to  have  received  its  name  from  the  fact  that  it  stood  near  the 
entrance  to  the  royal  gardens  which  it  watered  :  see  2  Kings 
XXV.  4  ;   Jer.  xxxix.  4,  lii.  7. 

no  place,  &c.  :  on  account  of  the  broken-down  walls. 

the  beast  that  was  under  me :  i.  e.  so  long  as  I  rode, 

to  pass:  lit.  *  to  cross,'  '  pass  over,'  referring  to  the  rubbish 
in  the  way.     See  on  Esther  iv.  17. 


NEHEMIAII  2.  i6,  17.     N  175 

brook,  and  viewed  the  wall ;  and  I  turned  back,  and 
entered  by  the  valley  gate,  and  so  returned.  And  the  16 
^  rulers  knew  not  whither  I  went,  or  what  I  did ;  neither 
had  I  as  yet  told  it  to  the  Jews,  nor  to  the  priests,  nor  to 
the  nobles,  nor  to  the  ^  rulers,  nor  to  the  rest  that  did  the 
work.     Then  said  I  unto  them,  Ye  see  the  evil  case  that  17 

^  Or,  deputes 

15.  in  the  night :  it  was  still  night,  and  Nehemiah  wishes  to 
lay  stress  on  this.  The  Palestine  night  varies  only  between  eleven 
and  thirteen  hours. 

the  brook:  better  '  wady ' :  the  Hebrew  word  (Hakhal) 
=  the  Arabic  wady,  i.  e.  a  winter  torrent  valley.  This  is  the  word 
always  used  of  the  Kidron,  which  must  therefore  be  here  meant. 
Gat',  the  word  in  the  phrase  *  Valley  of  Hinnom,'  denotes  a 
narrower  opening  and  one  without  a  brook.  Nehemiah  went  up 
the  Kidron  valley,  from  which  he  could,  especially  on  the  higher 
ground,  have  a  good  view  of  the  Temple  wall  and  of  much  of  the 
Temple  itself. 

turned  back  :  Heb.  '  turned,'  that  is  its  primary  sense  and  its 
sense  here.  Having  passed  through  the  wady,  he  would,  follow- 
ing the  wall,  make  a  tour  towards  the  east,  encompassing  the 
walls  until  he  was  once  more  at  the  Valley  Gate. 

and  so  returned :  the  verb  is  here  rightly  translated.  It  is 
a  trick  of  the  author,  a  word-play,  to  use  the  same  verb  in  two 
different  senses  in  the  same  paragraph, 

16-18.  The  Jews,  on  hearing  Nehemiah  explain  his  project,  agree 
heartily  to  co-operate  ivith  him. 

16.  rulers:  Heb.  {seganim)  equivalent  in  this  book  to  the 
word  so  common  in  Ezra  and  translated  '  princes '  :  see  on  Ezra 
ix.  I.  Nehemiah  brought  it  from  Persia,  though  it  is  of 
Babylonian  origin.  It  occurs  but  once  in  Ezra  (^ix.  a),  and 
then  almost  certainly  as  a  gloss. 

nobles:  lit.  '  freedmen,'  Nehemiah's  equivalent  for  'elders' 
(see   on    Ezra  x.  8).      It  occurs   in   the   Sachau   papyri  (i.    19), 

*  Bagohi  (governor  of  Judah)  and  the  Khorim^  (not  as   Sachau 
Kherim)  '  of  the  Jews,'  where  '  elders  '  makes  good  sense. 

nor  to  the  rest,  &c.  :  render, '  nor  to  the  others  who  had  been 
doing  the  work.'  The  Heb.  permits  this  rendering,  and  the  sense 
requires  it.  The  rel'erence  is  to  what  had  beeji  done  before  Nehe- 
miah's ar(>val,  but  was  stopped  by  the  Samaritan  party  (see  p.  160,. 
There  is  not  the  slightest  need  to  explain  with  M  eyer  and  Bertholet, 

*  the  others  who  were  perlorming  the  religious  rites  of  the  Jews.' 

17.  See  on  ver.  3. 

N 


176  NEHEMIAH  2.  18-20.     N 

we  are  in,  how  Jerusalem  lieth  waste,  and  the  gates 
thereof  are  burned  with  fire :  come  and  let  us  build 
up  the  wall   of  Jerusalem,  that  we   be   no   more  a  re- 

18  proach.  And  I  told  them  of  the  hand  of  my  God  which 
was  good  upon  me ;  as  also  of  the  king's  words  that  he 
had  spoken  unto  me.  And  they  said,  Let  us  rise  up  and 
build.    So  they  strengthened  their  hands  for  the  good 

19  work.  But  when  Sanballat  the  Horonite,  and  Tobiah 
the  servant,  the  Ammonite,  and  Geshem  the  Arabian, 
heard  it,  they  laughed  us  to  scorn,  and  despised  us,  and 
said,  What  is  this  thing  that  ye  do  ?  will  ye  rebel  against 

20  the  king?  Then  answered  I  them,  and  said  unto  them, 
The  God  of  heaven,  he  will  prosper  us  ;  therefore  we  his 

18.  rise  :  see  on  Ezra  x.  4.     '  Let  us  set  about  building,'  &c. 
So  they  strengthened,  &c.  :  better  (with  Luc,  LXX,  Vulg., 

not  Sj'r.)  passive  :  '  So  their  hands  were  strengthened,'  &c.  See 
for  the  antithetic  phrase  Ezra  iv.  4. 

19.  Opposition, 

For  Sanballat  and  Tobiah  see  on  ver.  10. 

Geshem  :  see  vi.  2  and  6.  In  the  latter  verse  it  has  the 
form  'Gashmu,'  which  occurs  repeatedly  in  the  Sinaitic  inscrip- 
tions ^,  and  should  probably  be  read  here  and  in  vi.  2.  The  final  n  is 
the  sign  of  the  Semitic  nominative,  of  which  there  are  survivals  in 
the  O.  T.  (see  G.  K.,  §  90 n.).  He  seems  like  Tobiah^  to  have 
accepted  the  religion  of  the  Samaritans  and  to  be  now  identified 
with  them  against  the  Jews.  He  might  have  been  head  of  a  clan 
which  had  settled  in  Samaria.  We  know  that  Sargon  transplanted 
the  Arab  tribe  Thamud  to  Samaria,  There  is  a  third  alternative  ; 
Geshem  might  have  been  commissioned  by  his  tribe,  still  dwelling 
in  their  Arab  homeland,  to  represent  them  in  Samaria's  opposition 
to  the  Jews.  In  either  of  the  two  latter  alternatives  the  Arabs,  of 
whom  Geshem  was  chief,  might  have  accepted  Samaritanism  as  a 
religion,  or  their  opposition  might  have  been  due  to  a  general 
uprising  of  the  peoples  around  against  the  Jews  and  their 
designs. 

will  ye  rebel?  In  reference  probably  to  the  correspondence 
recorded  in  Ezra  iv.  7-23.     See  esp.  ver.  15. 

20.  Nehemiah's  answer  of  faith. 

The  God  of  heaven  :  see  on  Ezra  vi.  9. 

^  See  Euting,  No.  5S,  167,  345.  ^  See  on  ver.  10. 


NEHEMIAH  2.  20.     N  177 

servants  will  arise  and  build  :  but  ye  have  no  portion,  nor 
right,  nor  memorial,  in  Jerusalem. 


will  prosper  ns :  see  i.  11. 

his  seirvants  :  see  on  i.  6. 

arise :  see  on  Ezra  x.  4. 

build  :  i.  e.  rebuild  ;   see  on  ver.  5. 

no  portion:  see  Joshua  xx.  25  ;  2  Sam,  xx.  i. 

rig'ht :  the  Hebrew  word  occurs  in  the  Sachau  papyri, 
i.  27,  in  the  sense  of  'a  fixed  share,'  which  is  therefore  almost 
certainly  its  meaning  here. 

memorial  =  '  something  to  be  remembered  by,'  see  Ezraxvii. 
14  ;  Num.  xvi.  40,  xxxi.  54  ;  Mai.  iii.  16.  Had  the  Samaritans 
and  their  allies  been  fully  incorporated  into  the  Jewish  com- 
munity and  allowed  to  share  in  the  rebuilding  of  Temple  and 
city  walls  their  names  would  have  been  handed  down  as  those  who 
helped  in  the  restoration  of  the  city  and  its  sanctuary. 

Nehemiah's  reply  makes  it  clear  enough  that  the  Samaritans 
would  have  had  no  quarrel  with  the  Jews  if  they  had  been  per- 
mitted to  unite  with  the  latter  in  their  undertakings  and  privileges. 

III.   Names  of  those  who  Repaired  the  Several  Portions 
OF  THE  Wall. 

This  chapter  is  of  the  utmost  importance  for  the  understanding 
of  the  topograpliy  of  Jerusalem  in  the  days  of  Nehemiah,  and 
much  has  been  written  on  it  by  scholars  who  have  made  a  special 
study  of  the  subject,  such  as  Wilson,  Warren,  Guthe,  Bliss, 
Schick,  G.  Adam  Smith.  Neh.  iii.  13-15  and  xii.  27-43  are  also 
of  great  importance  in  the  same  direction. 

The  text  in  this  chapter  is  unfortunately  verj'  corrupt  in  parts 
(see  on  verses  i,  9)  and  the  account  defective  owing  to  the  drop- 
ping out  of  words  through  the  carelessness  of  copyists.  The 
Ephraim  Gate  is  not  mentioned,  though  it  must  have  been  named 
in  the  original  account  (but  see  on  ver.  6  and  on  xii.  39)  ;  the 
description  of  the  east  wall  is  evidently  incomplete  (see  on 
verses  25,  27),  and  in  several  cases  persons  are  said  to  have 
repaired  a  second  portion  who  are  not  mentioned  in  connexion 
with  a  first  (see  on  ver.  9). 

It  has  been  inferred  by  Torrey^  and  Kent^,  from  the  special 
features  of  vocabulary  and  style  in  this  section,  that  the  Chronicler, 
or  at  least  another  than  Nehemiah,  is  the  author.  But  nowhere 
either  in  E?ra  or  in  Nehemiah  is  there  so  detailed  a  description  of 
Jerusalem  as  in  this  chapter,  and  one  might  expect  this  peculiarity 

'   Composition,  &.C.,  37  f. 

^  Israel's  Historical  and  Biographical  Narratives,  p.  352. 

N  2 


178  NEHEMIAH  3.  i.     N 

3      Then  Eliashib  the  high  priest  rose  up  with  his  brethren 


of  subject-matter  to  carry  with  it  corresponding  peculiarities  of 
language,  especially  where  so  many  technical  and  geographical 
terms  are  employed.  On  the  other  hand,  the  personal  note  is 
very  prominent  throughout,  and  it  is  clear  that  Nehemiah  con- 
tinues in  the  first  person  to  tell  his  own  tale. 

The  course  taken  by  the  description  is  regular,  though  that  has 
been  denied.  The  following  outline  sets  forth  the  probable  direc- 
tion taken  by  the  narrator  in  the  account  he  gives.  Verses  1-5 
deal  with  the  north  wall. 

1.  The  Sheep  Gate  in  the  north,  about  the  middle  of  the 
northern  extremity  of  the  present  Haram  area,  formed  the 
starting-point  (i  f.). 

2.  Thence  westward  passing  the  towers  of  Hammeah  and 
Hananel  to  the  Fish  Gate  13-5). 

3.  The  western  wall  (6-12). 

4.  The  southern  wall  and  gates,  including  the  Valley  and  Dung 
Gates  (13  f.). 

5.  The  south-east  wall  and  gates  (15-27). 

6.  The  north-east  wall — completion  (28-32). 

1-5.    The  North  and  North-ivest  Wall. 

1.  EliasMto  (  =  *  God  will  restore';  in  Liic.  the  form  is  ^El- 
Yashiib  —  '  God  will  turn  or  return').  Several  persons  with  this 
name  are  mentioned  in  Ezra-Nehemiah  and  Chronicles  :  see 
I  Chron.  iii.  24  (a  descendant  of  Zerubbabel)  ;  Ezra  x.  14,  29,  36, 
&c.  The  '  Eliashib  the  high  priest '  of  verses  i  and  20  was  son 
of  Joiakim  and  grandson  of  Jeshua  (see  on  Ezra  ii.  z),  the  con- 
temporary of  Zerubbabel.  He  is  called  ''  the  priest '  (  =  high- 
priest,  see  2  Kings  xi.  pf.,  xvi.  10  f.)  in  Neh.  xiii.  4.  For  the 
high-priesthood  see  on  Ezra  vii.  5.  According  to  xii.  10  Eliashib 
was  the  great-grandfather  of  Jaddua,  the  contemporary  of 
Alexander  the  Great,  see  on    Ezra  x.  6. 

Later  on  there  arose  a  schism  between  Nehemiah  and  his 
reforming  party  on  the  one  hand,  and  Eliashib  and  the  laxer  (or 
broader  ?)  party  on  the  other,  the  principal  occasions  for  which 
were  the  following  incidents  :  Being  related  by  marriage  to 
Tobiah  (see  on  ii.  10),  Eliashib  made  it  possible  for  the  latter  to 
enter  the  priesthood  though  not  of  priestly  descent,  and  actually 
allotted  him  one  of  the  chambers  in  the  Temple  area  (see  xiii.  4  f.). 
All  this  happened  in  Nehemiah's  absence,  as  he  himself  is  careful 
to  tell  us  rxiii.  6).  On  his  return  this  anomaly  was  rectified, 
Tobiah  being  expelled  from  his  office  and  chamber.  Soon  after 
this  courageous  act  the  Jewish  reformer  felt  it  his  duty  to  dismiss 
from  the  priesthood  a  grandson  of  Eliashib  because  he  had  allied 
himself  by  marriage  with  Saiibailat  the  iioronite  (^xiii.  28).    Of  the 


NEHEMIAH  3.  i.     N  179 

the  priests,  and  they  biiilded  the  sheep  gate ;  they 
sanctified  it,  and  set  up  the  doors  of  it ;  even  unto  the 
tower  of  ^  Hammeah  they  sanctified  it,  unto  the  tower  of 

*  Or,   T/ie  hundred 

latter  Josephus  gives  a  different  account,  for  it  is  certain  that  in 
Anttq.  xi.  7,  2  and  8,  2  f.  he  has  this  incident  in  mind.  According 
to  him,  a  certain  Manassi,  son  of  Jaddua  (and  therefore  great- 
great-grandson  of  Eliashib),  married  Nikaso,  daughter  of  Sanballat 
the  Kuthaean.  He  was  expelled  from  the  priesthood  for  refusing  to 
put  her  away,  whereupon  he  took  refuge  among  the  Samaritans, 
who  welcomed  him  as  the  son  of  their  governor  and  were  glad  to 
appoint  him  priest  of  their  rival  Gerizim  temple.  Josephus,  it 
will  be  seen,  dates  the  incident  about  the  time  of  Alexander  the 
Great,  if  not  later,  but  there  is  abundant  evidence  that  the 
Samaritan  party  had  been  organized  many  decades  before  this, 
and  there  is  proof  in  the  Sachau  papyri  (\.  29)  that  Sanballat  was 
a  contemporary  of  Nehemiah  Uirca  440  b.c.\ 

rose  up  .  .  .  and  .  .  .  btdlded  =  'set  about  building'  :  see 
on  X.  4. 

the  sheep  g-ate  :  lit.  '  gate  of  the  small  cattle  (sheep  and 
goats)  '  :  so  also  ver.  32  and  xii.  39.  It  lay  near  the  north-east 
corner  of  the  Temple  area,  a  little  to  the  west  of  the  modern 
St.  Stephen's  Gate,  and  hence  its  restoration  fell  appropriately  to 
the  lot  of  the  priests.  It  is  Hkely  that  just  outside  this  gate  there  was 
a  market  at  which  sheep  and  other  animals  were  sold,  chiefly  for 
purposes  of  sacrifice,  the  Temple  being  near,  but  also,  it  would 
seem,  for  other  purposes.  This  gate  is  no  doubt  the  one  referred 
to  in  John  v.  2. 

they  sanctified  it,  and,  &c.  :  render,  '  they  laid  its  beams 
and  set  up  its  doors  even  to  the  tower  of  Hammeah  ;  the  hundred) 
and  to  the  tower  of  Hananel.' 

they  sanctified  it  (and)  :  this  is  never  said  of  anj'  other 
gate  or  of  any  part  of  the  wall.  Read  ^making  a  slight  change  in 
the  Hebrew),  'they  laid  its  beams'  (see  ver.  3\  If  the  M.  T.  is 
retained  the  consecration  of  the  gate  might  have  been  due  to  its 
nearness  to  the  Temple,  to  its  market  for  sacrificial  animals,  and 
also  to  the  fact  that  it  was  repaired  by  priests.  The  second 
occurrence  of  they  sanctified  it  is  to  be  deleted  as  a  copyist's 
mistake  ^(^ttography). 

the  tower  of  Hammeah:  both  this  tower  and  that  of 
Hananel  were  probably  situated  upon  the  rock  on  which  Anton ia 
^see  ii.  8)  stood  ;  they  were  therefore  somewhat  to  the  west  of 
the  Sheep  Gate. 

Why  is  the  '  Tower  of  the  Hundred  '  {Hammeah^  so  called  ? 
We  can  but  guess,  as  we  are  not  told.     Some  say  because  it  was 


i8o  NEHEMIAH  3.  2-4.     N 

2  Hananel.  And  next  unto  him  builded  the  men  of  Jericho. 
And  next  to  "them  builded  Zaccur  the  son  of  Imri. 

3  And  the  fish  gate  did  the  sons  of  Hassenaah  build ;  they 
laid  the  beams  thereof,  and  set  up  the  doors  thereof,  the 

4  bolts  thereof,  and  the  bars  thereof.     And  next  unto  them 
repaired  Meremoth  the  son  of  Uriah,  the  son  of  Hakkoz. 

■^  Heb.  him. 

100  cubits  high,  others  because  it  was  reached  by  100  steps,  a 
third  opinion  being  that  it  was  defended  by  100  men.  Perhaps 
Hammeah  was  a  man's  name  :  see  below.  It  is  mentioned  besides 
here  only  in  xii,  39. 

tower  of  Hananel  ( =  ^  whom  God  pities  or  favours ' :  a  man's 
name)  :  from  xii.  39  and  Jer.  xxxi.  8  we  infer  that  it  stood  to 
the  north  of  the  city,  and  from  verses  1-3  and  Zech.  xiv.  10  that  it 
was  between  the  Sheep  and  Fish  Gates. 

It  is  probable  that  these  two  towers  formed  parts  of  one  fortress, 
perhaps  that  subsequently  called  Antonia  :  see  on  ii.  8. 

2.  (next  unto)  Mm,  i.  e.  Eliashib,  his  co-workers  being 
ignored.  Perhaps,  however,  we  should  read  '  them,'  as  also  in 
ver.  8.  The  singular  and  plural  are  frequently  confounded  in  such 
phrases  throughout  this  chapter.  The  Hebrew  means  literall}'  '  at 
his  hand,'  i.e.  joining  hands  with  (in  a  free,  not  literal,  sense). 

the  men  of  Jericho :  the  Jericho  contingent  repaired  the 
part  of  the  wall  that  was  nearest  to  their  home  (the  priests  pre- 
ceding them  because  their  part  touched  the  Temple).  For  the 
site  of  Jericho  see  on  Ezra  ii.  34. 

(next  to)  them:  Heb.  'him.'  The  E.VV.  rightly  correct 
the  M.  T.  :  see  earlier  note  on  this  verse. 

Zaccur  :  nowhere  else  mentioned. 

3.  the  fish  grate  (see  xii.  39) :  situated  probably  at  or  near 
where  the  modern  Damascus  Gate  stands.  It  was  separated  from 
the  two  towers  mentioned  in  ver.  i  (Antonia?)  by  the  strip  of 
wall  mended  by  the  Jerichoites  and  Zaccur.  It  was  in  all  likeli- 
hood so  called  because  outside  of  it  there  was  a  fish  market :  see 
on  ver  .1,  '  Sheep  Gate.'  According  to  Zephaniah  it  seems  to  have 
been  in  the  new  part  of  the  city  :  see  2  Chron.  xxxiv.  14. 

sons  of  Hassenaah  :  see  vii.  38  (Senaah)  and  Ezra  ii.  35. 

doors  thereof :  i.  e,  the  two-leaved  door  (hence  the  plural\ 
filling  in  the  space  of  the  gateway  :  see  on  vi.  i. 

bolts  :  the  sockets  right  and  left  of  the  doors,  into  which  the 
ends  of  the  horizontal  bars  were  slid  when  the  door  was  locked. 
They  were  used  for  house  doors  (Cant.  v.  3)  as  well  as  for  city  gates. 

4.  repaired:  lit.  'strengthened,'  made  to  be  a  strong  wall, 
capable  of  holding  out  against  besiegers. 


NEHEMIAH  3.  5,6.     N  i8i 

And   next  unto  them  repaired  Meshullam   the   son  of 

Berechiah,    the  son  of  Meshezabel.      And    next    unto 

them  repaired  Zadok  the  son  of  Baana.     And  next  unto  5 

them  the   Tekoites  repaired ;  but  their  nobles  put  not 

their  necks  to  the  work  of  their  ""^lord.    And  ^nhe  old  gate  6 

*  Or,  lords     Or,  Lord 

^  Or,  the  gate  of  the  old  city  or,  of  the  old  wall 

Meremoth :  as  he  repaired  a  double  portion  (ver.  21)  it  is 
natural  to  think  that  he  was  wealth}'  and  the  family  of  which  he 
was  head  numerous.  From  Ezra  viii.  33  we  learn  that  he  was 
son  of  the  high-priest  Uriah. 

Meshullam :  through  the  marriage  of  his  daughter  to 
Tobiah's  son  (vi.  18)  he  was  related  to  that  leader  of  the 
Samaritan  party.  In  the  present  undertaking,  however,  if  not 
in  all  things,  he  is  a  co-worker  with  Nehemiah.  Zerubbabel  had 
a  son  of  the  same  name  (i  Chron.  iii.  19}. 

Baana  :  see  vii.  7,  x.  27,  and  Ezra  ii.  2. 

5.  Tekoites :  Tekoah  was  the  home  of  the  prophet  Amos 
(Amos  i.  I,  vii.  14),  though  he  exercised  his  prophetic  ministry 
in  the  Northern  Kingdom.  It  lay  some  ten  miles  to  the  south  of 
Jerusalem,  and  we  might  therefore  have  expected  to  find  the 
men  of  Tekoa  rebuilding  the  southern  wall  which  was  nearest 
to  them  :  see  ver.  2  ('men  of  Jericho').  Its  omission  from  the 
lists  in  Ezra  ii,  Neh.  vii  may  be  caused  by  the  fact  that  Jews  had 
not  at  the  time  implied  settled  in  it,  or  not  in  large  numbers. 

nobles  (Heb.  addlnm,  lit.  'strong  ones'):  so  x,  29; 
2  Chron.  xxiii.  20.  It  is  another  Hebrew  word  (Khofim)  that  is 
so  translated  in  ii.  16  (see  on),  iv.  14,  v.  17,  vi.  16,  vii.  5,  and  xiii.  17. 

put  not  their  necks,  &c. :  for  the  figure  see  Jer.  xxvii.  12 
and  Matt,  xi.  29. 

their  lord:  i.e.  Nehemiah,  governor  of  the  district,  and 
therefore  of  Tekoa.  Nehemiah's  opponents  were  for  the  most 
part  members  of  the  upper  classes,  since  those  guilty  of  marrying 
'  strange  women '  belonged  chiefly  to  those  classes.  Jewish  and 
other  expositors  understood  the  word  'lord'  to  mean  God. 
6-12.   The  Western  Wall. 

6.  the  old  gate:  the  Hebrew  ('Gate  of  the  Old,'  see  R.  Vm., 
'  gate  '  beisTg  masculine  and  '  old '  feminine)  does  not  allow  of  this 
rendering.  It  is  far  better  with  G.  A.  Smith  to  make  a  trifling  change 
in  the  Hebrew,  rendering  '  the  gate  of  the  second  (city).'  The  Fish 
Gate  (see  on  ver.  3)  was  also,  it  would  seem,  in  the  new  or  second 
city.  It  is  now  generally  held  that  this  gate  is  identical  with  the 
•  Corner  Gate'  (2  Kings  xiv.  13  ;  2  Chron,  xxvi.  9;  Jer.  xxxi.  38) 
and   the  'First  Gate'   (Zech.  xiv.  10),   where  both  names  occur. 


i82  NEHEMIAH  3.  7,  8.     N 

repaired  Joiada  the  son  of  Paseah  and  Meshullam  the  son 
of  Besodeiah ;  they  laid  the  beams  thereof,  and  set  up 
the  doors  thereof,   and  the  bolts  thereof,  and  the  bars 

7  thereof.  And  next  unto  them  repaired  Melatiah  the 
Gibeonite^and  Jadon  the  Meronothite,the  men  of  Gibeon, 
and  of  Mizpah,  which  appertained  to  the  throne  of  the 

8  governor  beyond  the  river.  Next  unto  him  repaired 
Uzziel  the  son  of  Harhaiah,  goldsmiths.     And  next  unto 

This  gate  would  therefore  stand  north-west  of  the  city,  a  little 
to  the  east  of  the  Ephraim  Gate.  We  ought  to  have  mention 
made  next  of  the  Ephraim  Gate  if  it  were  on  the  line  of  Nehe- 
miah's  wall.  But  it  might  not  have  needed  repair,  or  G.  A.  Smith 
may  be  right  in  saying  that  this  gate  was  built  on  a  lower  wall. 
Cf.  'above  the  gate  of  Ephraim,'  xii.  39,  see  on. 

Joiada:  not  the  priest  of  that  name,  xii.  10,  22,  xiii.  28, 
Meshnllam:  apparently  a  common  name,  see  on  ver.  4. 

7.  Read  and  render,  'And  next  to  them  repaired  Melatiah 
the  Gibeonite  and  Jadon  the  Meronothite  (together  with)  the 
men  of  Gibeon  and  Meronoth  who  belong  to  the  dominion  (rule) 
of  the  governor  of  Transpotamia.' 

Mizpah :  better  (with  Bertheau,  Meyer,  Bertholet,  Lohr,  &c.) 
read  '^Meronoth,'  which  makes  a  good  parallel  with  (men  of) 
Gibeon :  Mizpah  is  represented  by  its  rulers  (verses  15,  19).  If 
we  retain  the  name  we  must  understand  by  it  another  Mizpah — 
one  further  to  the  north. 

v^hidh  appertained  (to) :  since  these  words  are  implied  in  the 
Hebrew  the  italics  should  be  removed. 

throne :  here  =  '  rule  '  or  '  dominion  '  as  in  Ps.  Ixxxix.  29,  36. 
The  representatives  of  Gibeon  and  Meronoth  (?  Mizpah)  were 
under  no  obligation  to  help  in  the  work  as  they  were  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  Persian  satrap  of  Transpotamia.  Their 
generous  offer  of  service  was  therefore  all  the  more  deserving 
of  mention. 

Another  interpretation  given  to  these  words  is  that  those  named 
repaired  as  far  as  that  part  of  the  wall  in  or  near  which  the 
Persian  satrap  had  a  residence.  But  we  do  not  elsewhere  find 
the  remotest  reference  to  such  a  residence,  though  Schick  was  of 
opinion  that  in  his  digging  he  came  upon  the  remains  of  one  \ 

8.  (next  unto)  him :  see  on  v.  2. 

goldsmiths:  read,  'one  of  the  goldsmiths,'  prefixing  ben 
(=  son,  then  'one  of).  Cf.  the  next  clause  'one  (lit.  'son') 
of  the  apothecaries.' 

'   See  ZDPV.  1S85,  269  f. 


NEHEMIAH  3.  9-11.     N  183 

him  repaired  Hananiah  one  of  tlie  ^apothecaries,  and  they 
^  fortified  Jerusalem  even  unto  the  broad  wall.    And  next  9 
unto  them  repaired  Rephaiah  the  son  of  Hur,  the  ruler 
of  half  the  district  of  Jerusalem.      And  next  unto  them  10 
repaired  Jedaiah  the  son  of  Harumaph,  even  over  against 
his  house.     And  next  unto  him  repaired  Hattush  the  son 
of   Hashabneiah.      Malchijah   the  son  of   Harim,  and  n 
Hasshub  the  son  of  Pahath-moab,  repaired  another  por- 
*  Or,  perfumers  ^  Or,  left 

apothecaries:  lit.  'mixers';  what  are  meant  are  sellers  of 
perfumes,  spices,  and  the  like,  much  in  demand  for  cosmetic 
purposes  in  Eastern  countries.  We  must  not  take  the  word  to 
mean  '  chemists  '  in  the  modern  sense. 

fortified:  Heb.  'left,'  which  can  have  no  meaning.  The 
E.VV.  imply  a  slight  change  in  the  text  (y'^^az^zu  for  ya'az^bu), 
which  must  be  accepted.  Many  futile  attempts  have  been  made  to 
retain  the  M.  T.  and  give  it  a  passable  meaning. 

tlie  "broad  wall :  this  lay,  according  to  xii.  38  f.,  between  the 
Tower  of  the  Furnaces  (see  on  ver.  11)  and  the  Ephraim  Gate. 
Why  was  the  wall  broader  in  this  part?  No  one  knows. 
Perhaps  owing  to  the  lie  of  the  land  (Stade)  or  because  here 
the  first  and  second  walls  overlapped  (G.  A.  Smith?',  or  it  might 
have  been  made  so  for  strategic  purposes  (Ryle). 

9.  district :  Heb,  '  something  round,'  cf.  Arabic,  then  a 
circuit,  district.  Jerusalem  seems  for  administrative  purposes  to 
have  been  divided  into  halves.  See  verses  12,  16,  17,  18,  where 
other  half  districts  are  referred  to,  and  note  on  ver.  22. 

10.  (next  unto)  them :  read  '  him  *  and  see  on  ver.  2.  If  we 
keep  them  we  must  understand  it  to  refer  to  Kephaiah  and  his 
party. 

even:  omit  with  some  MSS.,  Syr.,  Luc,  and  many  editors. 

11.  Hairim:  see  Ezra  ii.  32,  39. 

(Pahath-moab  (see  on  Ezra  ii.  6)). .  .  another  portion,  lit.,  'a 
second  measured  portion,'  the  same  words  in  verses  19,  20,  21, 
24,  27,  30 :  see  Ezek.  xlv.  3,  where  the  same  noun  is  translated 
*  measure,'  It  is  evident  that  in  some  cases  the  same  persons 
repaired  two  portions  of  the  wall ;  cf.  verses  21  and  4,  27  and  5. 
In  other  cases,  as  here,  persons  are  said  to  repair  a  second  portion 
though  nothing  has  been  said  of  a  first  portion  :  so,  besides  the 
present  verse,  verses  19,  20,  30.  In  ver.  18  we  must  read 
'  Binnui '  as  in  ver.  24  for  '  Bavvai.'  In  all  the  other  cases  verses 
or  portions  of  verses  describing  the  repair  by  the  same  workers  of 
a  first  part  have  dropped  out. 


l84  NEHEMIAH  3.  12-14.     N 

12  tion,  and  the  tower  of  the  furnaces.  And  next  unto  him 
repaired  Shallum  the  son  of  Hallohesh,  the  ruler  of  half 

13  the  district  of  Jerusalem,  he  and  his  daughters.  The 
valley  gate  repaired  Hanun,  and  the  inhabitants  of 
Zanoah ;  they  built  it,  and  set  up  the  doors  thereof,  the 
bolts  thereof,  and  the  bars  thereof,  and  a  thousand  cubits 

14  of  the  wall  unto  the  dung  gate.  And  the  dung  gate  re- 
paired Malchijah  the  son  of  Rechab,  the  ruler  of  the 
district  of  Beth-haccherem ;  he  built  it,  and  set  up  the  doors 

and  the  tower,  &c. :  read  (with  LXX),  '  even  as  far  as  the 
Tower,'  &c. 

tower  of  the  furnaces  (or  '  ovens  ')  :  Schick  identifies  it  with 
the  David  Tower  (el-QaVa)  near  the  Jaffa  Gate.  It  was  certainly 
somewhere  on  the  wall  line  between  the  Jaffa  and  Valley  Gates, 
probably  near  the  south-west  corner  of  the  modern  city^.  It 
may  have  had  its  name  from  the  fact  that  it  joined  on  to  the 
Baker's  street  (or  Bazaar  ?)  of  Jer.  xxxvii.  2.  Some  think  it  was 
the  tower  built  by  Uzziah  on  the  Corner  Gate  (2  Chron.  xxvi.9), 
but  it  was  more  to  the  west  than  that. 

12.  half  the  district:  see  on  ver.  9. 

he  and  his  daugfhters  :  render  *  it  (the  half  district)  and  its 
dependent  places'  (villages,  towns,  and  cities):  see  xi.  25,27, 
where  Heb.  'daughters'  is  rendered  in  the  E.VV.  'towns'  in 
accordance  with  Heb.  idiom.  This  form  of  expression  meets  us 
very  frequently"  in  the  Priestly  Document. 

I3f.  Southern  Wall  and  Gates. 

13.  valley  gate :  see  on  ii.  13. 

Zanoah:  about  a  dozen  miles  due  west  of  Jerusalem,  now 
called  Zanna.     See  xi.  30  and  Joshua  xi.  34. 

holts :  see  on  ver.  3. 

a  thousand  cubits :  how  could  the  same  batch  of  workers 
repair  the  gate  and  more  than  the  third  of  a  mile  of  wall  ?  Perhaps 
the  number  engaged  was  large,  or  the  needful  repairs  in  the  wall 
were  few  and  slight  (see  on  ver.  6)  ;  or  it  may  be  that  the  text 
is  defective,  other  names  having  fallen  out. 

14.  dung"  sfate :  see  on  ii.  13. 

Beth-haccherem  :  better  Beth-hakkerem  =  '  place  of  the  vine- 
yard ' :  see  Jer.  vi.  i.  Usually  identified  with  the  Frank  Mount 
{^Jehel  Fitrudis),  a  little  to  the  south-east  of  Bethlehem. 

he  hnilt  it :    Heb.  '  he  would  build  it,'  which  is  intolerable : 


'  Paton  {op.  cit.,  p.  99")  identifies  the  site  with  that  of  Maudslay's  scarp. 


NEHEMIAH  3.  15,  16.     N  185 

thereof,  the  bolts  thereof,  and  the  bars  thereof.  And  the  15 
fountain  gate  repaired  Shallun  the  son  of  Colhozeh,  the 
ruler  of  the  district  of  Mizpah ;  he  built  it,  and  covered 
it,  and  set  up  the  doors  thereof,  the  bolts  thereof,  and  the 
bars  thereof,  and  the  wall  of  the  pool  of  ^^Shelah  by 
the  king's  garden,  even  unto  the  stairs  that  go  down 
from  the  city  of  David.  After  him  repaired  Nehemiah  iC» 
^  In  Isa.  viii.  6,  Shiloah. 

read  (with  Lite,  LXX)  'he'  (i.e.  Malchijah)  'and  his  sons'  (re- 
paired), and  add  (as  Luc,  LXX,  cf.  ver.  15)  '  and  they  covered  it.' 
15-27.   The  South-cast  Wall  and  Gates. 
15.  fountain  gfate:  see  on  ii.  14. 

the  district  (see  on  ver.  9)  of  Mizpah  :  distinct  from  the  city 
of  that  name  (see  ver.  19).  But  Meyer  and  Bertholet  simphfy  and 
perhaps  (as  they  claim)  restore  the  text  in  verses  15  and  19,  reading, 
ver.  15  '  Shallum  . . .  the  ruler  of  half  the  district  of  Mizpah.  19  Ezer 
.  .  .  the  ruler  of  half  the  district  of  Mizpah.'  The  two  parts  of  the 
district  of  Mizpah  are  then  represented.  There  are  no  external 
authorities  for  these  changes,  as  the  corruption,  if  real,  is  too  old. 

pool  of  Shelah :  this  is  no  doubt  the  modern  Birket-cs- 
Siltvan  into  which  the  fresh  waters  of  the  Virgin's  Spring  (the 
Gihon  of  I  Kings  i.  33,  &c.),  after  passing  through  the  celebrated 
tunnel,  empty  themselves.  The  name  Shelakh  ('sent,'  or  'what 
is  sent'?)  is  identical  with  the  Shiloakh  of  Isa.  viii.  6  and  the 
Siloam  of  John  ix.  7.  It  must  have  laid  within  the  walls  so  as  to 
be  beyond  the  reach  of  invaders  ^  Ryle  identifies  this  pool  with 
the  modern  Birkct-el-Hamra,  a  little  to  the  south  of  the  above  site. 

the  king's  garden :  see  2  Kings  xxv.  4  ;  Jer.  xxxix.  4,  li.  7. 
It  lay  probably  within  the  walls  (because  too  precious  to  be 
outside)  near  the  mouth  of  the  TjTopoeon. 

stairs,  &c. :  steps  on  the  rock  leading  down  from  the  Ophei 
(Sion)  fortress  to  the  pool. 

the  city  of  David:  primarily  the  'stronghold  of  Zion  '  taken 
by  David  from  the  Jebusites  (2  Sam.  v.  6  ff.)  which  became  the 
citadel  of  Jerusalem.  It  was  situate  on  the  southern  slope  of 
Ophel,  and  therefore  a  little  to  the  south  of  the  area  covered 
by  the  copiplex  of  Temple  buildings,  see  DB.  'Temple,'  fig.  i. 
Then  the  phrase  came  to  denote,  as  here,  that  part  of  Jerusalem 
which  was  built  close  to  the  Temple  and  royal  palace,  though 
never  in  the  O.  T.  is  it  used  for  the  whole  city  2. 

^  See  2  Chron.  xxxii.  3  f . ;  G.  A.  Smith,  Jerus.  i.  86. 
^  G.  A.  Smith,  Jeriis.'x.  154,  and  Psalms,  vol.  ii  {Century  Bible), 
36Sff. 


i86  NEHEMIAH  3.  17-20.     N 

the  son  of  Azbuk,  the  ruler  of  half  the  district  of 
Beth-zur,  unto  the  place  over  against  the  sepulchres  of 
David,  and  unto  the  pool  that  was  made,  and  unto  the 

17  house  of  the  mighty  men.  After  him  repaired  the  Lev- 
ites,  Rehum  the  son  of  Bani.  Next  unto  him  repaired 
Hashabiah,  the  ruler  of  half  the  district  of  Keilah,  for  his 

18  district.  After  him  repaired  their  brethren,  Bavvai  the 
son  of  Henadad,  the  ruler  of  half  the  district  of  Keilah. 

19  And  next  to  him  repaired  Ezer  the  son  of  Jeshua,  the 
ruler  of  Mizpah,  another  portion^  over  against  the  going 

20  up  to  the  armoury  at  the  turning  of  the  wall.     After  him 

16.  lialfthe  district  of  Beth^zur:  see  ver.  17  and  on  ver.  15 
for  other  districts  thus  divided. 

Beth-zur  =  the  modern  BetJisur,  about  a  dozen  miles  to  the 
south  of  Jerusalem.     See  Joshua  xv.  58;  2  Chron.  xi.  7. 

sepulchres  of  David:  see  2  Chron.  xxxii.  33  (burial-place  of 
Hezekiah).  Perhaps  this  royal  cemetery  was  situate  south  of  the 
modern  St.  Stephen's  Gate  where  there  is  now  a  Moslem  necro- 
polis.    This  would  hardly  disagree  with  i  Kings  ii.  10. 

pool  .  .  .  made:  i.e.  an  artificial  not  a  natural  pool,  the 
language  suggesting  that  it  was  a  newly  made  one.  Most  recent 
authorities  think  the  reference  is  to  the  pool  of  Hezekiah  (see 
Isa.  xxii.  9-1 1). 

the  house  of  the  mig'hty  men  (=  warriors)  :  probably 
what  is  meant  is  the  site  (with  ruins  ?)  of  the  royal  barracks  built 
originally  by  David  (see  2  Sam.  xvi.  16,  xxxiii.  8). 

17.  the  Levites:  only  one  is  mentioned;  possibly  some  names 
have  dropped  out,  or  the  one  mentioned  may  represent  a  clan. 

Bani:  see  ix.  4. 

Hashabiah  :  see  Ezra  viii.  19,  24  ^a  different  person), 

half  the  district,  &c. :  see  on  verses  15,  16. 

Keilah  =  the  modern  Kila,  some  sixteen  miles  south-south- 
east of  Jerusalem ;  so  Tobler  and  most :  see  Joshua  xv.  44 ;  i  Sam. 
xxiii.  I  f. ;  I  Chron.  iv.  19.  Miihlau  denies  the  identification  on 
the  ground  that  the  modern  town  is  on  the  lowlands  while  Keilah 
must  have  been  among  the  mountains  of  Judah. 

18.  their  brethren:   i.e.  the  kinsmen  of  the  Hashabiah  clan 
v.ho  took  under  their  care  the  other  half  of  the  district  of  Keilah. 

Bavvai:  read  (with  LXX)  Binnui,  as  in  ver.  24;  cf.  x.  10; 
see  on  ver.  11. 

19.  Ezer  .  .  .  Mizpah:  see  on  ver.  15, 

another  portion:    the  clause  telling  of  Ezer's  first  portion 


NEHEMIAH  3.  21-23.     N  187 

Baruch  the  son  of  ^  Zabbai  earnestly  repaired  another  por- 
tion, from  the  turning  0/  ^/le  wall  unto  the  door  of  the 
house  of  Ehashib  the  high  priest.     After  him  repaired  21 
Meremoth  the  son  of  Uriah  the  son  of  Hakkoz  another 
portion,  from  the  door  of  the  house  of  Ehashib  even  to 
the  end  of  the  house  of  EUashib.     And  after  him  repaired  22 
the  priests,  the  men  of  the  ^  Plain.   After  c  them  repaired  23 
Benjamin  and  Hasshub  over  against  their  house.     After 
^  them  repaired  Azariah  the  son  of  Maaseiah  the  son  of 
*  Another  reading  is,  Zaccai.        ^  Or,  Circuit       •=  Heb.  him. 

has  fallen  out;  where  so  many  naines  are  concerned  the  wonder 
is  that  the  text  has  been  as  well  preserved  as  it  is  :  see  on  ver.  ii. 

armoury:  Heb.  'arms.'  'weapons,'  then,  it  is  generally 
assumed  though  without  analogy  or  proof,,  '  the  place  where  they 
are  kept,'  '  arsenal.'  We  might  render  quite  Hterally  '  over  against 
where  one  goes  up  to  the  arms'  (i.  e.  where  they  are  kept). 

the  turning :  see  2  Chron.  xxvi.  9.  What  is  meant  is  a  part 
of  the  wall  that  bends  inwards;  so  verses  20,  24  f.  It  is  the 
antithesis  of  '  the  corner '  ( =  a  bend  outwards')  in  ver.  24. 

20.  Zabbai:  so  LXX  and  ket^  cf.  Ezra  x.  28;  Ar.,  Syr.,  Vulg., 
and  r/r  read  'Zaccai,'  cf.  Ezra  ii.  9.  In  the  Hebrew  the  difference 
is  hardly  perceptible. 

earnestly :  omit  '^^with  LXX  and  Ar.).  The  Hebrew  word 
is  simply  a  dittograph  of  the  following  verb  (*  repaired'),  which  in 
Hebrew  resembles  it  closely.  Luc,  Vulg.  read,  'towards  the 
mountain,'  making  a  slight  change  in  the  text.  The  Syr.  reads 
another  verb  ('he  took'). 

another  portion  :  the  first  has  in  this  case  also  been  omitted  : 
see  on  ver.  11. 

turning" :  see  on  ver.  19. 

21.  Meremotli  .  .  .  another  portion:  see  ver.  4,  where  the 
first  portion  is  mentioned  (cf.  Ezra  viii.  53). 

from  the  door  .  .  .  to  the  end  of  the  house  of  Eliashib  (see  on 
ver.  i),  whence  it  may  be  concluded  that  the  high-priest's  house 
was  along  the  line  of  wall,  and  that  it  was  of  considerable  extent. 
The  text  and  meaning  are  clear  enough,  notwithstanding  the 
difficulties  which  Ryssel  and  Siegfried  see  or,  rather,  create. 

22.  Plain:  Heb.  Jiikkar  for /^/Vy^rtf)  =  ' what  is  round.'  Then 
'a  portion  of  land,'  '  a  district.'  It  is  the  technical  term  for  the 
low-lying  district  about  the  Jordan,  now  called  'The  Ghor'  see 
Gen.  xix.  17,  &c.  ;  cf.  Mai.  iii.  5). 

23.  (After)  them:  Heb.  'him,'  see  on  ver.  2.  Perhaps  the 
name  and  work  of  one  man  were  described  in  a  lost  clause. 


i88  NEHEMIAH  3.  24-26.     N 

24  Ananiah  beside  his  own  house.  After  him  repaired 
Binnui  the  son  of  Henadad  another  portion,  from  the 
house  of  Azariah  unto  the  turning  of  the  wall,  and  unto 

25  the  corner.  Palal  the  son  of  Uzai  repaired  over  against 
the  turning  of  the  wall,  and  ^the  tower  that  standeth  out 
from  the  upper  house  of  the  king,  which  is  by  the  court 
of  the  guard.     After  him  ^Pedaiah  the  son  of  Parosh 

26  repaired.  (Now  the  Nethinim  dwelt  in  Ophel,  unto  the 
place  over  against  the  water  gate  toward  the  east,  and  the 

*  Or,  the  upper  tower  .  .  .  from  the  house  of  the  king 

^  Or,  Pedaiah  the  son  of  Parosh  {now  .  . .  Ophel)  repaired  unto  iyc. 

24.  Binnui  .  .  .  another  portion :  see  on  ver.  18. 
turning*  .  :  .  corner :  see  on  ver.  19. 

25.  Translate  :  <  (After  him  repaired)  Palal  .  .  .  over  against  the 
bend  (inwards)  (of  the  ivall)  and  (over  against)  the  upper  tower 
that  stands  out  from  the  royal  palace  (lit.  king's  house)  which 
(tower)  is  towards  (  =  in  the  direction  of)  the  Guard  Court.' 

The  first  three  words  of  the  above  (which  are  in  brackets)  must 
be  restored  :  they  are  necessary  for  the  sense,  and  are  in  harmony 
with  the  usual  formulae  in  this  chapter. 

turningr:  see  on  ver.  19. 

upper  :  this  word  belongs  to  tower  (as  in  LXX,  Vulg.)  not 
to  house  (as  Syr.,  Luc,  and  E.VV.),  though  the  Hebrew  permits 
either.  There  had  been  many  towers,  but  (as  far  as  we  know) 
only  one  royal  residence. 

that  standeth  out,  &c.  :  this  upper  tower,  instead  of  co- 
inciding with  the  wall  as  was  usual,  was  built  against  the  wall  en 
the  outside. 

court  of  the  guard,  or  '  guard  court ' :  a  part  of  the  palace 
area  in  which  were  kept  prisoners  whose  offences  were  not  serious 
enough  to  justify  their  being  thrust  into  the  dungeon  (see  on  ver. 
31  and  xii.  39).  They  could  have  mutual  intercourse  and  receive 
visits  from  their  friends  (see  Jer.  xxxii.  2,  and  Driver's  note). 
The  part  of  the  wall  to  which  the  'upper  tower'  was  attached 
formed  probably  one  side  of  this  court,  and  was  accordingly 
'towards'  the  latter.     For  other  projecting  towers  see  ver.  26  f. 

After  him  Pedaiah  :  in  the  Hebrew  no  verb  occurs,  show- 
ing the  corruptness  of  the  text.  Probably  ver.  26*  (to  Ophel) 
belongs  to  the  close  of  ver.  27.  We  should  then  render,  '  After 
him  Pedaiah  .  .  .  repaired  [26^]  unto  the  place,'  &c. 

26.  Ophel :  see  on  ver.  27. 

water  gate :  see  on  Ezra  x.  g.     We  know  that  it  was  on  the 


NEHEMIAH  3.  27,  28.     N  189 

tower  that  standeth  out.)   After  him  the  Tekoites  repaired  27 
another  portion,  over  against  the  great  tower  that  standeth 
out,  and  unto  the  wall  of  Ophel.     Above  the  horse  gate  28 
repaired  the  priests,  every  one  over  against  his  own  house. 

east  of  Jerusalem,  and  that  in  front  of  it  was  an  open  space  capable 
of  receiving  a  large  number  of  people  (see  viii.  i,  3,  16).  Siegfried 
and  G.  A.  Smith  ^  accept  the  Talmudic  tradition  that  it  was  a  city 
gate  on  the  line  of  the  eastern  wall,  though  in  Nehemiah's  accounts 
of  the  inspecting  of  the  wall  (iii.  13-15,  very  brief  ,  the  restoring 
of  them  (in  this  chapter;,  and  of  their  dedication  (xii.  27  ff.), 
nothing  is  said  of  the  gate  except  here.  It  had  its  name  probably 
because  it  opened  upon  the  path  which  conducted  to  Gihon  (  =  the 
Virgin's  Spring) — such  is  the  old  tradition. 

Bertholet  {in  loc.)  argues  from  viii.  i,  3,  16  that  there  must 
have  been  a  space  between  the  water  gate  and  the  city  walls — 
inside  the  latter.  '  (The  water  gate)  towards  the  east '  he  explains 
as  =  '  to  the  east  of  the  wall  that  was  now  being  repaired. '  Perhaps 
there  was  a  water  gate  in  some  other  part  of  the  wall.  In  any 
case  the  present  gate  was  on  the  east,  though  it  hardly  seemed 
necessary  to  say  that,  as  it  is  of  the  eastern  wall  that  Nehemiah 
is  now  writing.     See  on  Ezra  x.  9. 

the  tower,  &c.  :  the  same  tower  as  that  similarly  described 
in  ver.  25.  This  tower  marked  the  terminus  od  qiietti  for  Palal, 
and  the  tcrmuius  a  quo  for  Pedaiah. 

27.  Tekoites  .  .  .  another  portion :  see  on  ver.  5. 

Ophel  (lit. 'a  swelling') :  the  hill  continuing  the  Temple  Hill  on 
the  south-west.  When  mentioned  in  pre-exilic  literature  (2  Kings 
V.  24 ;  Isa.  xxx.  14  ;  Micah  iv.  8),  the  word  is  probably  an  inter- 
polation. On  the  other  hand,  later  writers  (Nehemiah,  Chronicles) 
havinga  fondness  for  '  Ophel,'  avoid  'Sion,'  suggesting,  what  abun- 
dant other  evidence  makes  clear,  that  Sion  and  Ophel  were  both 
names  for  the  same  plot  of  ground.  Cf.  the  probable  meaning  of 
'  Sion,'  'the  summit  of  a  mountain,'  and  of  Ophel,'  'swelling-.' 
The  name  Sion  came  to  denote  the  fortress  captured  by  David  from 
the  Jebusites,  and  then  the  whole  area  on  which  the  complex  of 
royal  and  Temple  buildings  were  placed  :  see  G.  A.  Smith,  Jeriis. 
i.  144  ff.,  152  ff.,  and  cf.  ^  Psalms'  vol.  ii,  p.  368  ff.  {Century  Bible). 
28-32.   The  North-east  Wall.     Completion. 

28.  horse  gate:  see  2  Kings  xi.  16;  2  Chron.  xxiii.  15;  Jer. 
xxxi.  40.  From  the  last  passage  it  may  be  fairly  inferred  that 
this   gate  stood  at  the   eastern  extremity   of  Jerusalem.      It  was 

^  Jerus.  i.  86. 

2  Prof.  Sayce  thinks  that  Ophel  was  the  ridge  of  Zion  that  was 
cut  away  by  the  Maccabees. 


190  NEHEMIAH  3.  29-31.     N 

29  After  ^them  repaired  Zadok  the  son  of  Immer  over  against 
his  own  house.     And  after  him  repaired  Shemaiah  the 

30  son  of  Shecaniah,  the  keeper  of  the  east  gate.  After  him 
repaired  Hananiah  the  son  of  Shelemiah,  and  Hanun  the 
sixth  son  of  Zalaph,  another  portion.  After  him  repaired 
Meshullam  the  son  of  Berechiah  over  against  his  chambe-r. 

31  After  him  repaired  Malchijah  one  of  the  goldsmiths  unto 
the  house  of  the  Nethinim,  and  of  the  merchants,  over 

*  Heb.  him. 

situated  a  little  to  the  south  of  the  modern  Golden  Gate  and  over- 
looked the  Wady  Kidron.  It  was  probably  so  called  because  the 
king's  horses  used  to  be  led  through  it  to  the  stables  (see  Joseph. 
Antiq.  ix.  7,  3).  Furrer  is  hardly  right  in  saying  that  this  gate 
received  its  name  from  the  horses  used  in  sun  worship  (see 
2  Kings  xxiii.  11),  as  a  name  with  such  an  origin  would  have 
been  long  since  abandoned. 

the  priests :  it  was  natural  for  these  to  see  to  the  repairing 
of  the  partsof  the  wall  that  were  contiguous  to  their  own  dwelling 
in  the  sacred  enclosure. 

29.  Zadok  :  see  Ezra  ii.  37. 
Shemaiah:  see  i  Chron.  xxvi.  6. 

east  gate  :  not  the  'water  gate,'  or  this  name  would  have 
been  given  it  here  as  in  ver.  26,  Probably  it  is  a  Temple  gate. 
Shemaiah  seems  to  have  been  a  Levite  (see  Ezek.  xliv.  ii). 

30.  Kauuu  .  .  .  another  portion :  see  ver.  13. 

the  sixth  son,  &c.  :  this  description  is  absent  from  ver.  13, 
and,  besides,  it  is  unparalleled  in  this  list.  Guthe  and  Ber- 
tholet  are,  therefore,  probably  right  in  seeing  in  the  Hebrew 
words  a  corruption  of  the  name  of  the  place  whence  Hanun  came. 

Meshullam :  probably  the  words  '  a  second  portion '  have 
by  hapiography  fallen  out  (see  ver.  4,  where  he  is  mentioned  as 
having  repaired  a  portion  of  the  north  wall). 

chamber :  the  Heb.  word  nislikah  occurs  also  in  xii.  44, 
xiii.  7.  It  is  an  allied  form  of  the  word  {lishkah)  so  translated  in 
Ezra  viii.  29  and  x.  6  (see  on  both). 

31.  goldsmiths  :  Heb.  *  goldsmith  '  (singular).  But  the  English 
translators  rightly  appended  the  Heb.  m,  making  it  plural. 

Nethinim  :  temple  servants  (see  p.  63  f.). 

merchants:  i.e.  such  as  trafficked  in  articles  connected  with 
the  Temple  worship,  animals  for  sacrifice,  incense,  garments,  &c. 
(see  Matt.  xxi.  12;  John  ii.  14).  They  and  the  Nethinim  seem  to 
have  occupied  a  room  in  the  Temple  area  between  them,  not  for 
sleeping  in,  but  for  performing  their  duties  in  the  daytime. 


NEHEMIAH  3.  32—4.  2.     N  191 

against  the  gate  of  Hammiphkad,  and  to  the  ^ascent  of  the 
corner.     And  between  the  «- ascent  of  the  corner  and  the  33 
sheep  gate  repaired  the  goldsmiths  and  the  merchants. 

But  it  came  to  pass  that,  when  Sanballat  heard  that  we  4 
builded  the  wall,  he  was  wroth,  and  took  great  indigna- 
tion, and  mocked  the  Jews.     And  he  spake  before  his  2 
brethren  and  the  army  of  Samaria,  and  said.  What  do 

*  Or,  upper  chamber 

(the  gate  of)  Hammiphkad  :  lit.  '  place  of  visitation  '  or  of 
'  punishment ' ;  render  'prison  '  (see  Ezek.  xliii.  21,  where  '  the 
appointed  place  of  the  house  '  (E.VV.)  is  {havn)  '  miphkad  of  the 
house  ').  Probably  the  word  in  the  present  verse  stands  for  a 
building  some  distance  from  (  =  over  against)  the  wall  where  ordi- 
nary prisoners  were  shut  up.  It  cannot  (with  Schultz)  be  identi- 
fied with  the  guard  court  of  ver.  25  (see  on)  since  it  is  too  far  to 
the  north  (see  xii.  39). 

ascent  of  tlxe  corner !  Heb.  *  the  upper  (part  or  chamber) 
of  the  corner.'  Perhaps  a  tower  in  a  wall  corner  or  angle  bulging 
out  and  used  for  recreation  or  as  a  place  of  observation. 

32.  sheep  gate  :  see  on  ver.  i.  The  whole  circuit  of  the  walls 
has  been  now  described. 

g'oldsmiths :  here,  according  to  Perles,  'money-changers' 
(see  verses  8,  31). 

merchants  :  see  on  ver.  31.  These  two  classes  must  have 
had  some  special  connexion  with  the  Temple  and  its  requirements, 
and  hence  quite  appropriately  they  repair  parts  of  the  wall  near  the 
sacred  enclosure. 

IV.  (Heb.  iii.  33-38).     Opposition  of  the  Samaritan  Party 

AND    THE    means    USED    BY    NeHEMIAH    TO    NEUTRALIZE    IT. 

T-3.   Taunts  of  Sanballat  and  Tobiah  (see  on  ii.  lo). 

1.  that  we  builded:  better,  'that  we  were  building,'  or  with 
Siegfried  (as  the  Heb.  permits),  *  that  we  were  about  to  build.'  But 
see  ver.  6. 

mocked  :  see  ver.  2  f. 

2.  his  brethren  :  in  a  loose  sense  'his  associates'  (see  ver.  3 
and  ii.  10). 

the  army  of  Samaria :  hardly  a  contingent  of  the  Persian 
army  (Rawlinson),  but  a  body  of  *  irregulars '  belonging  to 
Samaria  and  the  parts  around,  sworn  to  defend  the  Persian 
authority  in  all  emergencies  (see  on  ver.  7). 

What  do,  &c. :  better,  <  What  are  these  feeble  Jews  about 
to  do  ? ' 


192  NEHEMIAH  4.  3,  4.    N 

these  feeble  Jews  ?  ^will  they  fortify  themselves  ?  will  they 
sacrifice?  will  they  make  an  end  in  a  day?  will  they 
revive  the  stones  out  of  the  heaps  of  rubbish,  seeing  they 

3  are  burned  ?      Now  Tobiah  the  Ammonite  was  by  him, 
and  he  said.  Even  that  which  they  build,  if  a  ^  fox  go  up, 

4  he  shall  break  down  their  stone  wall.     Hear,  O  our  God ; 

for  we  are  despised  :  and  turn  back  their  reproach  upon 

their  own  head,  and  give  them  up  to  spoiling  in  a  land  of 

*  Or,  will  they  leave  to  themselves  aught  ?     Or,  will  men  let  them 
alone  ?  ''Or,  jackal 

will  they  fortify  themselves  ?  The  Hebrew  (see  R.Vm.) 
yields  no  sense.  Change  the  Heb.  lahem  ('for,'  '  to  themselves') 
to  Velohim,  and  we  get  excellent  Hebrew  and  sense,  *  Will  they 
leave  (resign)  (the  matter)  to  God  ?  '  For  the  thought  see  2  Kings 
xviii.  30,  32,  35.  A  similar  mistake  in  the  Heb.  text  (one  easily 
made)  occurs  in  i  Sam.  iii.  13,  and  Hos.  xiii.  2. 

an  end  :  i.  e.  of  the  rebuilding. 

3.  A  parenthesis,  as  v.  19,  vi.  9,  14. 

that  which  they  "build,  if  a  fox,  &c.  :  the  walls  which  these 
Jews  may  build  will  be  so  fragile  that  one  of  the  foxes  with  which 
the  ruined  walls  are  infested  (Ps.  Ixiii.  10 ;  Lam.  v.  18)  will  be 
able  to  level  these  new  walls  to  the  ground. 

fox :  the  Heb,  word  is  properly  so  rendered,  as  is  shown  by 
Arabic,  Assyrian,  and  Persian  cognates.  Some  render  jackal,  but  the 
Arabic  and  Aramaic  word  for  the  latter  animal  can  be  proved  to  be 
philologically  different  from  the  Hebrew  word  (shual)  in  this  verse. 
Of  course  some  things  predicated  of  the  fox  apply  to  the  jackal,  but 
the  word  for  fox  retains  its  own  sense  here  and  elsewhere  for  all  that. 
4f.  One  of  Nehemiah's  ejaculatory  prayers  :  see  for  others  v.  19, 
vi.  6,  14,  xiii.  14,  22,  29. 

The  vindictive  spirit  is  characteristic  of  the  age.  Though 
arising  from  zeal  for  Yahweh  and  His  cause,  as  understood,  it 
is  itself  reprehensible.  Cf.  the  Vindictive  Psalms,  and  see  Introd. 
to  Ps.  cix  {Century  Bible). 

4.  we   are    despised:    add  one   letter  and    read  (with  Luc, 
LXX)  '  we  are  an  object  of  contempt.' 

give  .  .  .  spoiling :  render,  '  make  them  a  spoil ' ;  see  Ezra 
ix.  7.  The  Heb.  word  hizzah  is  intended  probably  as  a  kind  of  pun 
on  the  word  for  *  object  of  contempt'  (see  above).  *  They  have 
made  us  a  buzah,  make  thou  them  a  bizzah* 

in  a  land  of  captivity :  may  they,  in  a  foreign  hostile  land, 
have  the  same  bitter  experience  which  our  nation  passed  through 
in  Babylon. 


NEHEMIAH  4.  5-8.     N  193 

captivity  :  and  cover  not  their  iniquity,  and  let  not  their  5 
sin  be  blotted  out  from  before  thee  :  for  they  have  pro- 
voked thee  to  anger  before  the  builders.     So  we  built  the  6 
wall ;  and  all  the  wall  was  joined  together  unto  half  the 
height  thereof :  for  the  people  had  a  mind  to  work. 

^  But  it  came  to  pass  that,  when  Sanballat,  and  Tobiah,  7 
and  the  Arabians,  and  the  Ammonites,  and  the  Ashdod- 
ites,  heard  that  ^  the  repairing  of  the  walls  of  Jerusalem 
went  forward,  and  that  the  breaches  began  to  be  stopped, 
then  they  were  very  wroth;  and  they  conspired  all  of 8 

*  [Ch.  iv.  I  in  Heb.]         ^  Heb.  healing  went  up  upon  the  ivalls. 

5.  cover  not,  &c. :  see  Ps.  Ixxxv.  a. 

let  not  their  sin  be  blotted  out :  see  Ps.  cix.  14. 

they  have  provoked  ...  to  angfer:  the  object  (Yahweh) 
understood,  as  in  Ps.  cvi,  29;  Hos.  xii.  15. 

before  the  builders  :  perhaps  Sanballat  and  his  friends  had 
tried  to  dissuade  the  builders  from  their  task, 

6.  Progress  of  the  work. 

we  built :  better,  '  we  continued  to  build  '  (i.  e.  rebuild) :  see 
Ezra  V.  2. 

unto  half:   the  height  being  understood  is  rightly  supplied 
by  the  E.W.    But  so  interpreted  we  must  not  regard  ch.  ii  as  im- 
plying the  completion  of  the  walls,  or  must  we  (with  Siegfried) 
regard  the  present  clause  as  a  gloss  ? 
7  f.  Conspiracy  to  stop  the  work, 

7.  Sanballat :  see  on  ii.  10. 

Arabians  (Arabs)  .  .  .  Ammonites  :  i.  e.  such  of  these 
people  as  belonged  to  the  entourage  of  Geshem  (see  on  ii.  9), 
Tobiah  (see  on  ii.  10). 

and  the  Ashdodites :  Guthe  (with  LXX)  omits  this  clause 
as  the  Ashdodites  are  nowhere  else  mentioned  in  this  connexion. 
Yet  all  the  other  versions  have  the  words,  including  Luc,  and 
.some  MSS.  of  the  LXX. 

the  repairing*,  &c.  :  the  Hebrew  word  is  used  of  the  healing 
of  a  wound  by  the  growing  of  new  instead  of  the  old  diseased 
flesh.  It  is  always  in  the  O.T.  used  figuratively :  see  Isa.  Iviii.  8  ; 
Jer.  viii.  22  (of  the  restoration  of  Israel),  and  2  Chron.  xxiv.  13  (of 
the  rebuilding  of  the  walls  of  Jerusalem,  as  here). 

went  forward:  lit.  'went  up, 'following  out  the  figure — the  new 
healthy  flesh  grew  up  instead  of  the  old.  So  in  the  above  passages 
except  in  that  from  Isaiah,  where  the  verb  =  '  to  sprout  up'  {samakh). 

breaohes:  see  vi.  i.  very  wrotk:  see  ver.  i. 

02 


194  NEHEMIAH  4.  9-12.     N 

them  together  to  come  and  fight  against  Jerusalem,  and 

9  to  cause  confusion  therein.     But  we  made  our  prayer 

unto  our  God,  and  set  a  watch   against  them  day  and 

10  night,  because  of  them.  And  Judah  said.  The  strength 
of  the  bearers  of  burdens  is  decayed,  and  there  is  much 

1 1  rubbish  ;  so  that  we  are  not  able  to  build  the  wall.  And 
our  adversaries  said,  They  shall  not  know,  neither  see, 
till  we  come  into  the  midst  of  them,  and  slay  them,  and 

12  cause  the  work  to  cease.  And  it  came  to  pass  that,  when 
the  Jews  which  dwelt  by  them  came,  they  said  unto  us 
ten  times  ^from  all  places.   Ye  must  return  unto  us. 

*  Or,  From  all  places  whence  ye  shall  return  they  will  be  upon  us 

8.  conspired:  lit.  'banded  (themselves)  together,'  the  verb 
which  (in  the  passive)  occurs  in  ver.  6  ('  was  joined  ').  It  is  com- 
monly  used  of  secret,  treacherous  consultations. 

to  cause  confusion  =  to  bring  about  a  panic.  The  noun 
occurs  besides  in  Isa.  xxxii.  6  only. 

9-23.  Nehemtah's  prayer  and  precautions. 

9.  set  a  watch  =  posted  sentinels  :  see  vii.  3. 

because  of  them :  Heb.  '  in  front  of  them.'  The  sentinels 
were  set  towards  the  direction  whence  the  enemy  was  expected 
to  advance. 

10.  Judah :  the  country  for  the  people,  as  often  in  the  O.  T. ; 
of  Moab,  Edom,  Israel ;  and  cf  *  we  '  further  on  in  the  verse, 

rubbish :  see  ver.  2  :  until  this  was  cleared  away  the  walls 
could  not  be  completed. 

11.  adversaries:  the  Hebrew  word  (sar)  denotes  'strictly 
those  who  injure/  and  has  reference  to  what  they  do.  The  word 
translated  *  enemies '  in  ver.  15  (Heb.  'Oyeb)  is  subjective  in 
its  connotation  and  suggests  the  unkind  feelings  harboured,  as  the 
other  word  the  harm  done. 

said  :  the  verb  often  =  *  to  say  inwardly,'  and  so  '  to  purpose.' 
Perhaps  Nehemiah  got  wind  of  an  actual  conversation  of  the  kind. 

cause  the  work  to  cease :  the  same  verb  in  Dan.  ix.  27  (of 
sacrifice)  in  the  same  sense,  and  in  2  Chron.  xvi.  5  (end)  in 
a  somewhat  different  sense. 

12.  (the  Jews  which  dwelt)  by  them :  near  their  foes,  the 
Samaritans  and  their  allies. 

ten  times:  i.  e,  '  many  times,'  as  in  Gen.  xxxi.  41. 
from   all  places,   &c.  :  the  Hebrew  is  scarcely  intelligible. 
Better  amend  with  Bertholet  and  read  as  follows  :  '  From  all  the 


NEHEMIAH  4.  13-15.     N  195 

Therefore  set  I  in  the  lowest  parts  of  the  space  behind  13 
the  wall,  in  the  open  places,  I  even  set  the  people  after 
their  families  with  their  swords,  their  spears,  and  their 
bows.  And  I  looked,  and  rose  up,  and  said  unto  the  14 
nobles,  and  to  the  ^  rulers,  and  to  the  rest  of  the  people, 
Be  not  ye  afraid  of  them  :  remember  the  Lord,  which  is 
great  and  terrible,  and  fight  for  your  brethren,  your  sons 
and  your  daughters,  your  wives  and  your  houses.     And  it  15 

*  Or,  deputies 

places  where  they  (the  enemy)  dwell '  (so  Syr.,  the  Hebrew  con- 
sonantal text  agreeing)  '  they  are  coming  up '  (so  Luc.  LXX,  Vulg., 
Guthe)  'against  us.'  That  is,  the  Jews  who  have  come  from  their 
country  homes  to  take  part  in  the  work  of  rebuilding  say  over  and 
over,  *  from  all  parts  as  we  came  along  we  saw  our  foes  marching 
up  against  us.'  It  was  in  consequence  of  this  intelligence  that 
Nehemiah  promptly  set  about  the  measures  detailed  in  verses  13  if. 

13.  The  text  is  almost  hopelessly  corrupt.  Of  many  attempts 
at  restoration  and  explanation  the  following  seems  to  the  present 
writer  the  best — it  is  in  part  his  own  :  *  And  I  set  in  the  low 
places  of  the  space  behind  the  wall  (which  wall  was)  a  great 
defence :  yea,  I  set  the  people  according  to  their  clans,*  &c. 

in  the  lowest  parts :  Bertheau,  Siegfried,  &c.,  making 
a  slight  change  in  the  Hebrew,  read  'catapults,'  the  word  in 
2  Chron.  xxvi.  15. 

open  places :  the  (one)  Hebrew  word  occurs  besides  only 
in  Ezek.  xxiv.  7  f.  and  xxvi.  4,  14  with  the  noun  *  rock '  in  the 
sense  '  a  bare,'  lit.  *  sunburnt  place '  on  a  rock.  This  does  not 
make  sense  here.  It  is  better  to  read  the  Hebrew  word  for 
'shadows  '  (selalim  for  sekhikhim,  much  more  alike  in  the  Hebrew 
consonant  text)  and  to  understand  in  the  sense  *  defences,'  then 
(plural  of  intensity)  'strong  defence.'  The  noun  has  this  sense 
in  Isa.  xlviii.  45  (of  a  wall);  Num.  xiv.  9  (of  Yahweh) ;  Ps.  xci.  i. 
The  preposition  before  the  noun  is  the  beth  essentiae  which  serves 
to  introduce  the  predicate  (see  G.  K.  119,  i). 

spears :  used  for  thrusting  at  an  enemy  when  near  enough. 
The  bows  were  for  attacking  those  at  a  distance,  the  swords  for 
hand-to-hand  fights. 

14.  I  looked,  and  rose  up :  an  extraordinary  combination  of 
words  in  this  connexion.  Read  with  Siegfried  (?),  Bertholct,  and 
Kent,  'And  I  saw  their  fear,'  changing  one  Hebrew  word.  Cf. 
Be  not  afraid. 

nobles  .  .  .  rulers:  see  on  ii.  16. 
great  and  terrible :  see  i.  5  and  ix.  3a. 


1.96  NEHEMIAH  4.  16,17.     N 

came  to  pass,  when  our  enemies  heard  that  it  was  known 
unto  us,  and  God  had  brought  their  counsel  to  nought,  that 
we  returned  all  of  us  to  the  wall,  every  one  unto  his  work. 

16  And  it  came  to  pass  from  that  time  forth,  that  half  of  my 
servants  wrought  in  the  work,  and  half  of  them  held  the 
spears,  the  shields,  and  the  bows,  and  the  coats  of  mail ; 

1 7  and  the  rulers  were  behind  *^all  the  house  of  Judah.    They 

"^  Or,  all  the  house  of  Judah  that  builded  the  wall.    And  they  that  dr'c. 

15.  enemies:  see  on  ver.  11. 

(that)  it  (was  known)  =  their  purpose  to  march  upon  the 
city.     This  word  should  be  italicized,  as  it  is  not  in  the  M.  T. 

God  had  brought,  &c. :  Nehemiah  had  but  used  the  means  ; 
the  result  was  God's  doing. 

counsel:  common  in  the  O.  T.  in  the  sense  of  'scheme,' 
*  plan '  (see  Ezra  iv.  5,  Isa.  xxix.  15,  xxx.  i,  &c.).  We  have  the 
same  phrase  as  here  '  to  bring  to  nought,'  lit.  to  break  '  a  plan,'  in 
Ezra  iv.  5  ;  2  Sam.  xv.  34,  &c. 

we  returned,  &c.  :  no  longer  fearing  an  immediate  attack 
they  resumed  their  work,  though  (verses  15  ff.)  with  due  regard 
to  the  real  danger  still  existing. 

16.  my  servants:  the  select  body  chosen  by  Nehemiah,  or 
allotted  him  as  an  army  of  defence,  not  the  whole  of  the  governor's 
subjects  (Judah)  :  see  verses  17,  23,  v.  10,  16,  xiii.  19. 

Of  the  above,  half  gave  themselves  to  work  (but  even  those 
were  armed,  see  ver.  17),  the  other  half  to  defence. 

held  the  spears  :  the  E.VV.  here,  as  often  (see  on  Ezra  x. 
16),  translate  from  a  corrected  text.     The  M.T.  is  unidiomatic. 

shields :  the  Hebrew  noun  here  (sing,  ntdgen)  stands  for 
the  small  shield  carried  by  warriors  along  with  spears,  &c. 
Another  word  frequently  translated  '  shield  '  {sinnah)  denotes  one 
that  is  larger,  requiring  sometimes  at  least  another  to  carry  it  (see 
I  Sam.  xvii.  7).  The  latter  weighed  about  four  times  as  much  as  the 
former ;  see  Skinner  on  i  Kings  x.  16  f.  {Century  Bible).  Both  words 
come  together  in  Jer.  xlvi.  3  ;  Ezek.  xxiii.  24,  &c.  {hnckXer  {ntdgen) 
and  shield).  Two  other  words  {shelet,  see  Jer.  li.  11,  and  kidon, 
Job  xxxix.  23,  R.V.  javelin)  are  wrongly  translated  'shield.' 

coats  of  mail :  leather  coats  covered  with  thin  plates  of 
bronze  (see  i  Sam.  xvii.  4).  These  are  portrayed  plentifully  on 
the  Assyrian  and  Egyptian  monuments  of  the  ninth  century  b.  c. 
and  later.  During  the  winter  of  1908-9  Petrie  found  portions  of 
some  of  them  on  the  site  of  the  palace  of  Apries  (reigned  circa 
590-570  B.C.)  at  Memphis. 

rulers  :  the  Hebrew  word  as  in  ix.  9  (see  on),  not  that  in 
ver.  19  (see  on  ii.  16). 


NEHEMIAH  4.  18-22.     N  197 

that  builded  the  wall  and  they  that  bare  burdens  laded 
themselves,  every  one  with  one  of  his  hands  wrought  in 
the  work,  and  with  the  other  held  his  weapon  ;  and  the  i8 
builders,  every  one  had  his  sword  girded  by  his  side,  and 
so  builded.  And  he  that  sounded  the  trumpet  was  by  me. 
And  I  said  unto  the  nobles,  and  to  the  ^  rulers  and  to  the  19 
rest  of  the  people,  The  work  is  great  and  large,  and  we  are 
separated  upon  the  wall,  one  far  from  another :  in  what  20 
place  soever  ye  hear  the  sound  of  the  trumpet,  resort  ye 
thither  unto  us;   our   God  shall  fight  for   us.     So  we  21 
wrought  in  the  work :  and  half  of  them  held  the  spears 
from  the  rising  of  the  morning  till  the  stars  appeared. 
Likewise  at  the  same  time  said  I  unto  the  people.  Let  22 
every  one  with  his  servant  lodge  within  Jerusalem,  that  in 

*  Or,  deputies 

were  beliind,  &c. :  for  the  purpose  of  encouraging  and 
directing  in  the  event  of  an  attack. 

all  the  house,  &c.  :  join  on  to  the  first  five  words  in  ver.  17, 
as  in  the  R.Vm. :  *A11  the  house  of  Judah  that  builded  the  wall 
(17)  and  they  that,'  &c. 

IV.  laded  themselves :  read,  with  very  little  alteration  in 
the  Hebrew,  'were  armed.*  So  Ryssel  (in  Kautzsch,  Heilige 
Schrifi)^  Guthe,  &c. :  cf.  what  follows. 

18.  he  that  sounded  the  trumpet :  to  give  an  alarm  in  case 
of  an  attack. 

19.  nobles  .  .  .  rulers :  see  on  ii.  16. 

21.  The  interval  between  sunrise  and  sunset  varies  in  Palestine 
between  fourteen  hours  (in  summer)  and  ten  (in  winter). 

appeared  :  lit.  *  came  out.'  In  Hebrew  the  idiom  for  sun- 
rise is  'to  come  out'  (from  his  night  chamber?),  that  for  sunset 
being  *  to  enter  in'  (i.  e.  to  return  to  his  night  chamber?).  These 
modes  of  expression  have,  it  would  appear,  a  mythological  origin. 

22.  Let  every  one  with  his  servant  lodge,  &c. :  i.  e.  the 
master  builders  and  those  who  helped.  Perhaps  by  the  latter  we 
are  to  understand  the  burden-bearers  (see  ver.  17),  i.  e.  those  who 
carried  the  building  materials.  Many  men  of  both  classes  had 
country  homes,  to  which  they  seem  to  have  returned  of  nights. 
Nehemiah  would  have  them  spend  the  nights  at  Jerusalem  for  the 
security  of  the  latter  and  for  their  own  safety,  for  the  enemy  was 
now  on  the  alert  (see  on  ver.  12).  But  it  would  have  gone  hard 
with  them  if  the  same  men  had  to  work  in  the  daytime  and  watdtl 


198  NEHEMIAH  4.  23.     N 

the  night  they  may  be  a  guard  to  us,  and  may  labour  in  the 

23  day.    So  neither  I,  nor  my  brethren,  nor  my  servants,  nor 

the  men  of  the  guard  which  followed  me,  none  of  us  put  off 

our  clothes,  ^  every  one  wen^  with  his  weapon  to  the  water. 

*  The  text  is  probably  faulty. 

during  the  night.     It  must  be  therefore  that  the  watching  was 
done  by  relays,  who  took  dut}'  in  turns. 
23.  my  servants  :  see  on  ver.  16. 

men  of  tlie  gniard  :  probably  the  foreign  soldiers  allowed 
Nehemiah  by  the  king  of  Persia  when  he  left  for  Jerusalem  (see 
ii.  9;. 

every  one  -w^rd,  &c.  :  the  best  MSS.  of  the  LXX  omit  this 
clause,  but  its  sister  Greek  text  {Luc.)  makes  amends  by  giving  a 
conflate  or  double  text,  which  Guthe  adopts  1.  The  M.  T.  makes  no 
sense,  for  it  is  simply  '  every  one  his  weapon  (missile)  the  water,' 
though  it  is  usually  explained  that  every  one  went  dressed  having 
his  missile  to  the  place  where  nature  was  relieved.  If  the 
text  is  retained,  slightly  amend  the  last  word  and  render  '  every 
one  with  his  weapon  in  his  hand.'  The  M.T.  does  not  permit  of 
the  rendering  of  Grotius  :  <  (but)  every  one  put  them  (the  clothes) 
off  during  his  ablutions  ' ;  cf.  Mark  vii.  4,  8. 

V.  Social  Distress  and  the  Means  Nehemiah  took  for  its 
Removal. 
1-5.  The  poor  complain  of  the  extortion  and  oppression  of  the  rich. 
Since  the  work  of  rebuilding  was  a  labour  of  love — for  there  is 
not  a  word  about  payment  of  wages — the  amount  of  time  and 
energy  set  apart  for  the  ordinary  occupations  of  life  must  have 
been  greatly  diminished.  Moreover,  the  unsettlement  in  the 
country  districts  and  the  risks  connected  with  labouring  and  even 
residence  in  them  (see  on  iv.  12)  must  have  brought  about  almost 
a  paralysis  of  agricultural  industry,  greatly  to  the  financial  dis- 
advantage of  landowners  and  labourers.  One  must  add  to  these 
causes  of  poverty  or  lessened  wealth  the  enormous  expense  of 
materialsfor  the  building  and  ofweapons  of  defence.  The  well-to-do 
would  in  these  circumstances  need  the  money  they  had  lent,  and 
whether  needing  it  or  not,  would  be  inclined,  when  they  found  the 
interest  no  longer  paid,  to  call  in  what  was  lent  (generally  money) 
or  to  demand  all  available  pledges. 

We  do  not  find  among  the  Jews  in  Bible  times  any  sj'stem  of 
laws  or  customs  governing  the  relation  of  lender  and  borrower, 

^  The  text  of  Luc.  may  be  thus  translated:  'Every  one  whom 
they  sent  (  =  who  was  sent)  to  the  water  (i.  e.  to  fetch  water)  (went) 
each  with  his  weapon  to  the  water.' 


NEHEMIAH  5.  i,  2.     N  199 

Then  there  arose  a  great  cry  of  the  people  and  of  their  5 
wives  against  their  brethren  the  Jews.  For  there  were  that  2 
said,  We,  our  sons  and  our  daughters,  are  many :  let  us 

such,  for  example,  as  prevailed  among  the  Babylonians  in  the 
time  of  Hammurabi  {circa  2200  b.  c),  though  even  among  them 
such  lav^^swere  less  complete  than  one  would  gather  from  Stanley 
Cook's  book,  The  Laws  of  Moses  and  the  Code  o/Hamwurabt  {igo^y. 
Read  as  a  corrective  C.  H.  W.Johns,  Baby  loniaH  and  Assy  nan  Laws, 
Contracts  and  Letters  (1904)  ^.  Among  the  Hebrews,  as  generally 
among  the  Babylonians ",  loans  were  made  to  the  poor  alone  for  the 
purpose  of  meeting  special  emergencies  (bad  crops,  fire,  &c.). 
Lending  as  an  investment  with  the  expectation  of  a  good  return  was 
hardly  known  in  those  times.  Hence  the  laws  which  forbade  the 
claiming  of  interest  are  found  perhaps  first  in  the  Deuteronomic 
code*  (yet  cf.  Exod.  xxii.  25,  JE),  but  are  continued  inlater  codes' 
and  reinforced  in  the  Talmud  ®.  The  Egyptian  laws  condemned  the 
charging  of  interest,  and  so  does  the  Quran  ^ ;  and  the  same  is 
true  of  the  Bedouin  of  the  present  day  if  what  C.  M.  Doughty  says 
is  correct :  '  The  malicious  subtlety  of  usury  is  foreign  to  the 
brotherly  dealing  of  the  nomad  tribesmen  ^' 

But  that  no  strict  law  on  this  matter  existed  among  the 
Hebrews  is  abundantly  proved  by  the  present  chapter  and  by 
parts  of  the  O.  T.,  in  which  the  practice  of  lending  at  interest  is 
condemned.  Indeed,  many  of  the  humanities  prescribed  in  the 
relation  between  creditor  and  debtor,  employer  and  employed, 
were  found  at  a  later  time  to  be  impracticable  ^  See  Jer.  xxxiv. 
8f.,  and  on  th6  whole  subject  consult  Benzinger  (Encyc.  Bib.,. 
'  Law  and  Justice,'  §  16  and  his  later  discussion  in  Heb.  ArchX'> 
(1907),  p.  292  ff. :  cf.  p.  268  ff.).  See  further  on  verses  2,  7  and  11. 
The  fact  that  at  this  time  there  was  a  capitalist  or  rich  class  shows 
that  there  had  been  a  large  return  of  exiles  many  years  earlier,  for 
the  Jews  left  behind  were  poor  and  belonged  to  the  least  im- 
portant families. 

i.  a  gfreat  cry:  the  same  words  in  Exod.  xii.  30.  There  the 
cause  was  the  oppression  of  the  Egyptians,  here  the  oppression 
of  brother  Jews,  which  made  it  harder  to  bear. 

the  people:  i.e.  for  the  poor,  cf.  vii.  5. 

their  brethren  the  Jews :  see  above. 
2.  We,   our   sons,   &c.  :    read,    <We   must  give  our  sons  and 

^  Seep.  228  ff.      ^  Seep.  250  ff.     *  Johns, /.  c.    *  Deut.  xxiii.  ipf. 
'^  Lev.  XXV.  36  f.  J  cf.  Ps.  XV.  5;    Prov.  xxviii.  8;   Ezek.  xviii.  ji., 
12  f.,  16  f. 
^  Baba  Mesiah,  61b.         ''  xxx.  38.         *  Arabia  Deserta,  \.  318. 
*  See  the  passages  adduced  under  note  5. 


200  NEHEMIAH  5.  3-5.     N 

3  get  corn,  that  we  may  eat  and  live.  Some  also  there  were 
that  said,  We  are  mortgaging  our  fields,  and  our  vine- 
yards, and  our  houses  :  let  us  get  corn,  because  of  the 

4  dearth.  There  were  also  that  said.  We  have  borrowed 
money  for  the  king's  tribute  upon  our  fields  and  our  vine- 

5  yards.  Yet  now  our  flesh  is  as  the  flesh  of  our  brethren, 
our  children  as  their  children :  and,  lo,  we  bring  into 
bondage  our  sons  and  our  daughters  to  be  servants,  and 
some  of  our  daughters  are  brought  into  bondage  already : 

daughters  in  pledge,'  prefixing  one  Hebrew  letter  ('am)  to  the 
word  translated  *  many ' :  no  other  change  in  the  consonantal 
text  is  necessary.  See  ver.  3,  where  the  same  combination  of 
Hebrew  words  occurs.  The  participle  thus  restored  has  the 
force  of  expressing  what  is  to  be,  must  be,  as  the  same  participle 
in  ver.  3  *We  must,'  &c. 

Among  the  Hebrews  *,  as  among  the  Babylonians  2,  a  man  could 
sell  his  wife  and  children  to  wipe  off  a  debt,  but  they  had  to  be 
set  at  liberty  in  the  seventh  year^  :  the  Babylonians  lessened  the 
years  of  bondage  to  three  *. 

let  us  get:   render,  *so  that  we  may  buy,'  &c.,  which  the 
Hebrew  allows  and  the  sense  demands. 

3.  We  are  xnortg'aging',  &c. :  render,  *  We  must  mortgage,'  &c. 
The  verb  (a  participle  here  and  as  amended  in  ver.  2)  is  the  same 
as  that  rendered  above  (see  on  ver.  2),  *  give  ...  in  pledge.' 
In  both  cases  the  meaning  is  the  same,  *  to  give  as  security.' 
Property  also  returned  to  the  family  that  originally  owned  it 
in  the  seventh,  i.  e.  in  the  Sabbatic  year ;  see  on  ver.  2. 

let  us,  &c.  :  render,  *  that  we  may  buy  corn,'  as  in  ver.  3. 

4.  Nothing  fresh  appears  in  this  verse,  for  it  is  simply  a  repeti- 
tion in  other  words  of  what  ver.  3  says,  except  that  the  purpose 
of  the  loan  is  mentioned.  Probably  it  is  a  marginal  gloss  on  ver.  3 
which  found  its  way  into  the  text  as  many  other  such  glosses 
have  done. 

5.  flesh:  the  word  has  often  the  meaning  *a  human  being,' 
'a  personality';  cf.  'all  flesh,'  &c.  in  Gen.  vi.  12,  'We  are  what 
our  rich  brethren  are ;  we  have  the  same  human  characteristics ; 
yet  our  children  are  their  slaves.' 

we  bring :  render,  *  we  must  bring,'  see  on  ver.  a. 

*  Lev.  XXV.  39-41.  "^  Cook,  op.  cit.  229. 

'  Exod.  xxi.  2  :  so  originally  in  Lev.  xxv.  40,  according  to  most 
modern  scholars. 

*  Hammurabi  Laws,  No.  117. 


NEHEMIAH  5.  6-8.     N  201 

neither  is  it  in  our  power  to  help  it ;  for  other  men  have 
our  fields  and  our  vineyards.     And  I  was  very  angry  when  6 
I  heard  their  cry  and  these  words.     Then  I   consulted  7 
with  myself,  and  contended  with  the  nobles  and  the  ^rulers, 
and  said  unto  them,  Ye  exact  usury,  every  one  of  his 
brother.    And  I  held  a  great  assembly  against  them.    And  8 
I  said  unto  them.  We  after  our  ability  have  ^  redeemed  our 
brethren  the  Jews,  which  were  sold  unto  the  heathen ; 
and  would  ye  even  sell  your  brethren,  and  should  they  be 
sold  unto  us  ?    Then  held  they  their  peace,  and  found 

*  Or,  deputies  ^  Heb.  bought. 

for  other  men,  &c.  :  we  are  hopelessly  in  their  power, 
since  they  hold  our  land  whence  alone  we  might  obtain  the 
money  to  redeem  our  children.  Luc,  LXX  read,  'the  nobles' 
instead  of  other  xuen,  which  last  the  M.T,,  Ar.,  Syr.,  and  Vulg. 
read.  The  former  agrees  best  with  the  phraseology  of  this  book 
and  is  probably  primary.  The  Hebrew  writing  of  the  two  words 
is  not  very  dissimilar. 

6-n.  Nehemiah  rebukes  the  guilty  ones,  and  demands  both 
restitution  and  reform. 

7.  nobles,  rulers :  see  on  ii.  16. 

Ye  exact  usury :  the  same  verb  is  used  in  ver.  10  by 
Nehemiah  to  describe  what  he  himself  and  his  brethren  and 
servants  did,  but  here  it  is  accompanied  by  a  cognate  accusative 
which  seems  to  add  the  idea  of  lending  on  interest  not  (as 
Rawlinson)  upon  pledge,  which  was  allowed;  see  preliminary 
remarks  to  this  chapter. 

assembly :  a  feminine  form  of  the  noun  translated  *  con- 
gregation'  in  ver.  13  and  in  Ezra  ii.  64  (see  on).  As  there  is  no 
difference  of  meaning,  the  ending  having  the  force  of  our  indefinite 
article,  the  same  English  word  ('congregation')  ought  to  have 
been  employed. 

8.  have  redeemed:  lit.,  'obtained  by  purchase,'  referring  to 
Jews  whom  on  his  arrival  he  found  working  off  debts  in  the 
service  of  non-Jews. 

heathen:  lit.,  *  nations,'  a  word  which  in  the  plural  came  to 
have  the  sense  of  non-Jewish  peoples  and  to  take  on  an  ethical 
colouring.  It  is  often  translated  in  the  English  Bible  by  '  Gentiles ' 
owing  to  the  fact  that  in  the  Vulgate  gentes  is  the  word  for  the 
Heb.  goim  (nations),  though  gentiles  in  Latin  denotes  strictly 
members  of  the  aristocratic  families ;  see  SDB.  article  '  Nations. 


202  NEHExMIAH  5.  9-12.    N 

9  never  a  word.     Also  I  said,  The  thing  that  ye  do  is  not 
good  :  ought  ye  not  to  walk  in  the  fear  of  our  God,  be- 

10  cause  of  the  reproach  of  the  heathen  our  enemies  ?  And 
I  hkewise,  my  brethren  and  my  servants,  do  lend  them 
money  and  corn  on  usury.     I  pray  you,  let  us  leave  off 

11  this  usury.  Restore,  I  pray  you,  to  them,  even  this  day, 
their  fields,  their  vineyards,  their  oliveyards,  and  their 
houses,  also  the  hundredth  part  of  the  money,  and  of  the 

1 2  corn,  the  wine,  and  the  oil,  that  ye  exact  of  them.  Then 
said  they,  We  will  restore  them,  and  will  require  nothing 


9.  I  said:  so  rightly  gr.  and  all  the  versions;  but  the  Hebrew 
consonantal  text  {keth)  has  '  he  said.' 

to  walk  in  the  fear  of  our  God  =  to  walk,  i.  e.  to  conduct 
oneself  as  proper  respect  for  the  authority  of  God  would  dictate ; 
i.  e.  to  keep  His  commandments ;  see  Acts  ix.  31  and  cf.  Deut. 
X.  la  ;  see  on  ver.  15  ('  the  fear  of  God'). 

because  of  tlie  reproach,  &c.  :  that  the  reproach  which  our 
enemies  fasten  on  us  of  oppressing  each  other  contrary  to  the 
Divine  law  may  cease,  or,  as  many,  *to  obviate  or  prevent  such 
a  reproach.' 

10.  And  I  ...  do  lend :  but  without  interest,  see  below. 

on  usury:  <at  interest.'  Since,  however,  the  Hebrew 
seems  to  mean  '  to  lend  without  interest '  these  words  are  to 
be  omitted. 

11.  even  this  day:  the  Hebrew  phrase  =  'immediately.' 

the  hundredth  part :  read  (inserting  one  Hebrew  consonant), 
'  the  interest'  (on  the  money,  &c.).  One  hundredth  per  cent,  per 
annum  would  be  too  small,  and  so  commentators  have  said  that 
the  interest  implied  was  paid  monthly  (as  sometimes  in  ancient 
Babylon),  making  it  twelve  per  cent,  per  annum,  about  the  average 
interest  charged  in  Babylon.  But  nothing  in  the  context  or 
in  other  parts  of  the  O.  T.  supports  this.  It  is  far  simpler  with 
most  modern  scholars  to  make  the  slight  change  in  the  text 
noticed  above. 

i2f.  The  guilty  oms  protnise  to  make  amends  for  tlie  past  and 
to  alter  their  ways  in  the  future. 

12.  We  will  restore,  &c. :  this  resolution  represents  probably 
the  result  of  prolonged  negotiations.  The  historian  gives  the 
bare  facts  only.  In  any  case  the  enormous  influence  of  the  cup- 
bearer stands  out  in  a  clear  hght. 


NEHEMIAH  5.  13, 14.     N  203 

of  them  ;  so  will  we  do,  even  as  thou  sayest.  Then  I 
called  the  priests,  and  took  an  oath  of  them,  that  they 
should  do  according  to  this  promise.  Also  I  shook  out  13 
my  lap,  and  said,  So  God  shake  out  every  man  from  his 
house,  and  from  his  labour,  that  performeth  not  this  pro- 
mise ;  even  thus  be  he  shaken  out  and  emptied.  And  all 
the  congregation  said,  Amen,  and  praised  the  Lord. 
And  the  people  did  according  to  this  promise.  More-  14 
over  from  the  time  that  I  was  appointed  to  be  their 
governor  in  the  land  of  Judah,  from  the  twentieth  year 
even  unto  the  two  and  thirtieth  year  of  Artaxerxes  the 
king,  that  is,  twelve  years,  I  and  my  brethren  have  not 

the  priests  administer  the  oath  because  it  was  a  religious 
action  ;  see  Num.  v.  19-22. 

took  an  oatli  (of  the  creditors)  :  the  oath  occupied  a  large 
place  among  the  Hebrews.  To  violate  it  was  supposed  to  bring 
down  the  Divine  malediction.  Sometimes  the  curse  implied  was 
explicitly  added  to  increase  the  solemnity  of  the  act  of  swearing ; 
see  Num.  v.  21,  and  on  the  next  verse. 

13.  I  shook  ont  my  lap :  i.  e.  the  fold  in  the  bosom  of  the 
dress  capable  of  serving  the  purposes  of  a  pocket. 

Nehemiah's  symbolical  action  amounts  to  a  curse  upon  any  one 
who  violated  the  oath;  see  Acts  xviii.  6  and  above  on  ver.  12; 
cf.  Acts  xxiii.  2  '  the  Jews  bound  themselves  under  a  curse.' 

his  labour:  the  Hebrew  word  denotes  also  (as  here^  the 
fruits  or  produce  of  labour. 

be  he  shaken  out:  see  Job  xxxviii.  13. 

congreg'ation :  see  on  Ezra  ii.  64  and  cf.  ver.  7  above. 

the  people :  the  Jews  generally  carried  into  practice  what 
the  congregation  had  approved. 

14-T9.  Nehemiah's  personal  generosity  and  self- denial. 

14.  By  surrendering  the  pay  to  which  as  governor  he  was 
entitled  Nehemiah  was  relieving  his  fellow  countrymen  who 
would  have  had  to  be  taxed  to  find  it. 

twentieth  year  ...  of  Artaxerxes :  i.  e.  445  b.  c.  The  king 
was  Artaxerxes  I ;  see  on  ii.  i. 

unto  the  two  and  thirtieth  year :  i.  e.  to  433  b.  c,  twelve 
years.  See  on  ii.  6  as  to  the  great  length  of  this  period  of 
absence. 

my  brethren :  Nehemiah's  retinue. 


204  NEHEMIAH  5.  15,16.     N 

15  eaten  the  bread  of  the  governor.  But  the  former  gover- 
nors that  were  before  me  ''^were  chargeable  unto  the  people, 
and  took  of  them  bread  and  wine,  ^beside  forty  shekels  of 
silver ;  yea,  even  their  servants  ^bare  rule  over  the  people  : 

16  but  so  did  not  I,  because  of  the  fear  of  God.     Yea,  also  I 

<^  continued  in  the  work  of  this  wall,  neither  bought  we  any 

*  Or,  laid  burdens  upon  ^  Or,  at  the  rate  of    Or,  afterward 

*^  Or,  lorded  over  ^  Heb.  held  fast  to. 

bread :  here,  as  often  in  English,  food,  which  is  perhaps  the 
primary  sense  of  the  Hebrew  word.  In  Arabic  the  cognate 
word  =  '  flesh ' ;  cf.  ver.  15  '  bread  and  wine '  =  the  whole  of 
what  was  served  at  table. 

15.  the  former  g-overnors . . .  before  me  :  a  redundancy,  much 
in  the  manner  of  Nehemiah,  see  v.  13  'shake,'  'be  shaken,'  and  vi.2. 
The  first  of  Nehemiah's  predecessors  in  the  governorship  of  the 
Jewish  post-exilic  community  was  Zerubbabel.  We  know  nothing 
of  those  intervening,  though  in  the  Sachau  Papyri,  i.  i,  we  read  of 
a  successor  Bagohi.  It  is  natural  to  infer  from  Nehemiah  that 
as  far  as  he  knew  Zerubbabel  took  the  full  governor's  pay. 

and  took  of  them,  &;c. :  render,  *  for  (as  the  price  of,  in 
Hebrew  the  ^beth  of  price')  bread  and  wine  daily  forty  shekels 
of  silver'  (about  £5). 

beside:  the  Hebrew  word  (=  'after,'  'afterwards')  makes 
no  suitable  sense  here.  Read  (with  the  Vulg.),  '  daily,'  the  form 
occurring  in  ver.  18  '  for  one  day '  (  =  'for  each  day  ').  A  glance 
at  the  Hebrew  will  show  how  easily  a  copyist  could  mistake  one 
for  the  other;  'after'  and  'one'  are  written  almost  alike.  The 
word  lost  is  much  like  that  preceding  it,  and  was  probably 
confounded  with  it. 

bare  rule  :  the  Hebrew  word  itself  (the  same  root  as  in 
Sultan,  which  is  Arabic)  = '  to  exercise  power '  and  so  '  to  rule.'  It 
may  have  come  to  have  a  bad  meaning  as  '  to  lord  it,'  but  we 
have  no  other  instance  of  the  sense.  Perhaps  we  should  read 
with  the  Vulg.  'oppressed.' 

but  so  did  not  I :  in  Hebrew  the  pronoun  is  emphatic,  *  but  as 
for  me  I  acted  not  so.'  Compare  Paul's  similar  claim  in  i  Cor.  ix.  12. 

16.  I  continued,  &c.  :  the  Hebrew  word  is  identical  with  that 
used  for  to  repair  (the  wall)  (see  on  iii.  4),  but  with  the  preposi- 
tion following  it  here  (6)  it  =  to  put  the  hand  to,  lay  hold  of,  '  I 
gave  myself  whole-heartedly  to  the  work  of  restoring  the  wall,* 
i.  e.  probably  superintending  the  undertaking  as  regards  actual 
building,  defence,  and  finance.  Nehemiah  is  not  mentioned  in 
ch.  iii  as  undertaking  any  special  portion  of  the  wall. 

neither  bought  we,  &c,  :  he  was  too  absorbed  in  the  main 


NEHEMIAH  5.  17, 18.     N  205 

land  :  and  all  my  servants  were  gathered  thither  unto  the 
work.  Moreover  there  were  at  my  table  of  the  Jews  and 
the  ^  rulers  an  hundred  and  fifty  men,  beside  those  that 
came  unto  us  from  among  the  heathen  that  were  round 
about  us.  Now  that  which  was  prepared  for  one  day  was 
one  ox  and  six  choice  sheep ;  also  fowls  were  prepared 
for  me,  and  once  in  ten  days  store  of  all  sorts  of  wine : 
yet  for  all  this  I  demanded  not  the  bread  of  the  governor, 

*  Or,  deputies 

purpose  of  his  visit  to  have  time  or  inclination  for  speculating  in 
land.  There  could,  of  course,  have  been  no  harm  in  itself  in  making 
speculative  purchases  of  land.  Perhaps  he  means  that  he  did  not 
take  any  advantage  of  the  people's  poverty  to  buy  at  low  prices. 

17.  According  to  the  M.T.  three  classes  would  seem  to  have 
been  entertained  at  Nehemiah's  tables  :  (i)  Jews  ;  (2)  rulers — also 
Jews ;  (3)  representatives  of  the  Jews  whose  homes  were  con- 
tiguous to  the  lands  inhabited  by  the  surrounding  nations. 

It  seems  to  the  present  writer  that  the  words  the  Jews  are 
simply  a  gloss  from  the  margin  to  inform  the  reader  that  (in  the 
glosser's  opinion)  the  persons  intended  by  class  3  above  were  Jews. 
If  the  M.T.  is  kept,  it  is  best,  with  Bertheau,  to  explain  the  Jews  as 
generic,  the  *  and  '  before  the  two  following  classes  being  explica- 
tive, as  this  conjunction  often  is  in  Hebrew  (so  Greek  Koi),  ^  The 
Jews  both  .  .  .  and.'  Van  Hoonacker  takes  the  Jews  to  =  the  poor 
people  (see  on  ver.  i),  and  the  third  class  above  to  denote  repre- 
sentatives (emissaries)  of  the  nations  around.  But  this  last  view  is 
exceedingly  improbable,  though  it  is  used  by  the  author  to  support 
his  theory  as  to  the  priority  of  Nehemiah  and  Ezra.  Bertholet 
makes  a  clever  guess,  suggesting  that  the  Hebrew  for  *  the  Jews  * 
is  a  corruption  of  the  words  for  '  and  it  happened  daily  that.' 

the  heathen  :  see  on  ver.  8. 

18.  that  which  was  prepared,  &c.  :  see  i  Kings  iv.  2a  f. 
Solomon's  daily  supply. 

for  one  day  =  '  for  each  day.' 

once  in  ten  days,  &c.:  by  omitting  one  letter  from  the  Heb. 
(6= 'in'  or  'with')  the  sense  conveyed  by  the  E.W.  Can  be 
legitimately  obtained  from  the  Heb.,  hardly  otherwise.  To  give 
the  Heb.  in  separate  English  words  as  has  been  done  in  order  to 
show  that  the  clause  has  no  meaning  is  very  misleading,  as  the 
syntactical  relation — quite  momentous  in  Heb. — is  lost  sight  of. 
The  thought  is,  however,  rather  strange,  a  fresh  supply  of  all 
kinds  of  wine  was  brought  to  the  governor's  official  (?)  residence 
every  ten  days. 


2o6  NEHEMIAH  5.  19—6.  2.     N 

19  because  the  bondage  was  heavy  upon  this  people.  Re- 
member unto  me,  O  my  God,  for  good,  all  that  I  have 
done  for  this  people. 

6  Now  it  came  to  pass,  when  it  was  reported  to  Sanballat 
and  Tobiah,  and  to  Geshem  the  Arabian,  and  unto  the 
rest  of  our  enemies,  that  I  had  builded  the  wall,  and  that 
there  was  no  breach  left  therein  ;  (though  even  unto  that 

2  time  I  had  not  set  up  the  doors  in  the  gates  ;)  that  San- 
ballat and  Geshem  sent  unto  me,  saying.  Come,  let  us 
meet  together  in  07ie  of  the  villages  in  the  plain  of  Ono. 

tlie  bondagfe :  rather,  the  work  to  be  done  (in  connexion 
with  the  walls). 

19.  See  xiii.  14,  22,  31,  for  a  similar  prayer;  cf.  ver.  5  and  vi. 
9,  14.  Such  naive  prayers  abound  in  oriental  and  especially  in 
Arabic  books.  Bertholet  (Comm.)  cites  a  similar  petition  from  an 
Assyrian  inscription. 

VI.  1-19.    Completion  of  the  Walls  notwithstanding 
Opposition  from  without  (1-9)  and  Treachery 
WITHIN  (10-19). 
1-4.  Sanballat  and  his  confederates  endeavour  to  entice  Nehemiah 
into  the  country  to  kill  him. 

1.  Sanballat  .  .  .  Tobiah :  see  on  ii.  10. 
Oeshem:  see  on  ii.  19. 

the  rest,  &c.  :  perhaps  the  Ashdodites  (see  iv.  7). 

doors  in  the  gates:  see  on  iii.  3.  The  Heb.  translated 
'  gate '  denotes  here,  as  often,  '  the  gateway  structure  *  with  roof 
(2  Sam.  xviii.  24),  and  upper  chamber  (2  Sam.  xix.  i).  The  work 
of  inserting  the  doors  had  been  undertaken  (see  iii.  3,  6,  14  f.),  but 
it  had  been  found  impracticable  up  to  the  present  to  complete  this 
part  of  the  work  owing  perhaps  to  the  labour  and  expense  involved  : 
see  on  xiii.  19. 

2.  Sanballat  and  Geshem :  why  not  Tobiah  also?  Probably 
because  he  was  Sanballat's  secretary  (see  ver.  17).  In  ver.  i 
(M.T.,  LXX,  but  not  Syr.,  Luc,  and  several  Heb.  MSS.)  he  is 
coupled  with  Sanballat,  'to  Sanballat  and  Tobiah  and  to  Geshem.' 

let  us  meet  together :  another  of  Nehemiah's  redundancies 
(see  on  v.  15  ;  cf.  v.  13).     See,  however,  also  Job  ii.  11. 

in  one  of  the  villages :  Heb.  *  in  the  villages,'  which  is  in- 
tolerable. Read  (with  Siegfried,  &c.)  '  in  Hakkepharim  '  (a  place 
name)  :  cf.  the  proper  name  Kephirah  ( = '  village  ')  in  vii.  29  and 
Ezra  ii.  25. 

in  the  plain  of  Ono  :  since  Ono  and  Lod  (Lydda)  are  often 


NEHEMIAH  6.  3-6.     N  207 

But  they  thought  to  do  me  mischief.    And  I  sent  messen-  3 
gers  unto  them,  saying,  I  am  doing  a  great  work,  so  that 
I  cannot  come  down  :  why  should  the  work  cease,  whilst 
I  leave  it,  and  come  down  to  you  ?    And  they  sent  unto  4 
me  four  times  after  this  sort ;  and  I  answered  them  after 
the  same  manner.     Then  sent  Sanballat  his  servant  unto  5 
me  in  like  manner  the  fifth  time  with  an  open  letter  in  his 
hand  ;   wherein  was  written.  It  is  reported  among  the  6 
nations,  and  ^-Gashmu  saith  it,  that  thou  and  the  Jews  think 

*  In  ver.  i,  and  elsewhere,  Geshem. 

mentioned  together  as  lying  in  close  contiguity  (see  xi.  35 ;  Ezra 
ii.  33  ;  I  Chron.  viii.  la)  it  may  be  inferred  that  Hakkepharim  was 
some  twenty  miles  to  the  north  of  Jerusalem  and  about  eight  to 
the  east  of  Joppa.  At  such  a  distance  the  Jewish  governor  could 
be  safely  murdered,  and  in  any  case  the  work  of  rebuilding  would 
be  seriously  retarded  had  he  been  successfully  beguiled  to  such  a 
far-off  spot.  Nehemiah  could  not  then,  had  he  been  allowed  to 
return,  have  brought  the  work  to  a  close  in  less  than  two  months 
(see  on  ver.  15). 

they  thoug-lit :  Heb.  *  purposed.' 

to  do  me  miscMef :  probably  to  assassinate  him  or  to  have 
him  assassinated. 

The  noun  rendered  mischief  occurs  in  i  Sam  xxiii.  9  (Saul) ; 
Esther  viii.  13  (Haman). 

3.  messengers :  the  usual  word  for  angels  (Gen.  xlviii.  16, 
&c,).     Here  as  Deut.  ii.  a6,  of  men. 

5-9.  Futile  attempt  to  intimidate  Nehemiah. 

5.  Ms  servant :  was  this  Tobiah  his  secretary?  See  ver.  17. 
There  was  now  in  connexion  with  the  open  letter  a  part  to  play 
which  required  skill. 

with  an  open  letter  :  having  failed  four  times  with  sealed 
letters  intended  for  Nehemiah's  eye  alone  he  made  a  bid  for 
greater  success  by  sending  a  letter  which  was  likely  to  meet  the 
eyes  of  Nehemiah's  ministers— the  servant  would  see  to  this  last. 
It  was  hoped  that  these  ministers  would  accept  Sanballat's  view 
of  the  situation  and  influence  their  master.  We  read  in  Jer. 
xxxii.  9-14  of  a  sealed  and  unsealed  contract,  the  latter  being 
merely  a  copy  attached  to  the  clay  envelope  containing  the 
other  and  exposed  for  consultation,  the  seal  of  the  former  being 
broken  in  cases  of  dispute  only  (see  Driver,  Jeremiah,  196  f.). 

letter :  see  on  ii.  7. 

6.  nations:   the  word  translated    heathen  in   v.  8   (see  on). 

P 


2o8  NEHEiMIAH  6.  7-9-     N 

to  rebel ;  for  which  cause  thou  buildest  the  wall :  and 
thou  wouldest  be  their  king,  according  to  these  words. 

7  And  thou  hast  also  appointed  prophets  to  preach  of  thee 
at  Jerusalem,  saying,  There  is  a  king  in  Judah  :  and  now 
shall  it  be  reported  to  the  king  according  to  these  words. 
Come  now  therefore,  and  let  us  take  counsel  together. 

8  Then  I  sent  unto  him,  saying,  There  are  no  such  thmgs 
done  as  thou  sayest,  but  thou  feignest  them  out  of  thine 

9  own  heart.  For  they  all  would  have  made  us  afraid,  saying, 
Their  hands  shall  be  weakened  from  the  work,  that  it  be 
not  done.    But  now,  ^  O  God^  strengthen  thou  my  hands. 

^  Or,  /  will  strengthen  my  hands 

Here  the  surrounding  nations  in  league  with  Sanballat  are 
meant. 

Oashmu:    see  on  ii.  19. 

think:  see  on  ver.  2. 

rebel:  see  Ezra  iv.  13  for  a  similar  charge,  made  also  in  con- 
nexion with  the  rebuilding  of  the  walls,  showing  that  this  section 
has  nothing  to  do  with  the  work  of  Ezra. 

thou  buildest :  better  '  rebuildest,'  a  sign  of  rebellion. 
Why  these  walls  if  not  to  defy  the  power  of  Persia?  Yet  the}' 
knew  better  (see  ver.  8;.  The  walls  were  for  defence  against  the 
people  around. 

thou  wouldest  be  their  kingf :  the  participle  in  Heb.  (see 
V.  3f.)  may  mean  'thou  wilt  soon  become  king'  (as  a  matter  of 
fact),  or  'thou  art  becoming  king,'  already  on  the  road  to  that 
goal  of  thine. 

7.  prophets:  there  were  prophets  on  Nehemiah's  side  as  well 
as  on  the  other  (see  ver.  10  ff.).  No  prophetic  literature  of  this 
period  seems  to  have  come  down  to  us. 

8.  thou  feig-nest:  Heb.  *  thou  ventest'  :  lit.  (cf.  Ar.)  'causest 
to  begin.'     The  same  verb  occurs  in  i  Kings  xii.  33. 

heart :  in  the  psychology  of  the  Hebrews  the  word  here 
\le\))  embraces  the  whole  mind,  feeling,  will,  and  especially  in^ 
tellect,  all  supposed  to  have  their  physiological  counterpart  in  the 
heart  (see  on  Ps.  cxix.  2,  Century  Bible). 

9.  But  now,  &c. :  render,  '  So  now  I  strengthened  my  hands.' 
The  Heb.  permits  and  the  versions  and  context  support  this 
rendering.  The  Divine  Name  is  wholly  absent  from  the  M.T. 
The  Heb.  verb  is  the  infinitive  (or  imperative  ?\  which  is  fre- 
quently to  be  rendered  by  a  tense  form  of  the  verb. 


NEHEMIAH  6.  10-12.     N  209 

And  I  went  unto  the  house  of  Shemaiah  the  son  of  10 
Delaiah  the  son  of  Mehetabel,  who  was  shut  up ;  and  he 
said,  Let  us  meet  together  in  the  house  of  God,  within 
the  temple,  and  let  us  shut  the  doors  of  the  temple :  for 
they  will  come  to  slay  thee ;  yea,  in  the  night  will  they 
come  to  slay  thee.  And  I  said,  Should  such  a  man  as  I  n 
flee  ?  and  who  is  there,  that,  being  such  as  I,  ^  would  go 
into  the  temple  to  save  his  life?     I  will  not  go  in.     And  12 

*  Or,  could  go  into  the  temple  mid  live 

10-14.  False  prophets  point  out  the  difficulties  and  dangers  of  the  work. 

10.  Z  went  into  the  house  of  Shemaiah:  why  was  this 
done  ?  Many  say  to  obtain  an  oracle  (Urim  and  Thummim  ?)  for 
his  guidance  in  a  time  of  perplexity  (see  Jer.  xxxvii.  17,  xxxviii. 
14).  But  Nehemiah  does  not  seem  to  have  shown  either  doubt  or 
fear  as  to  the  course  he  should  take  (see  ver.  sff.),  and  when  this 
man  gives  his  advice  Nehemiah  spurns  it.  Why  could  not  Nehe- 
miah visit  this  man  or  any  other  in  a  mere  social  way  ? 

Shemaiah  :  nowhere  else  mentioned.  He  was  apparently  a 
prophet  (see  ver.  12)  and  a  priest  (see  under  next  word). 

Delaiah  :  the  name  appears  in  a  list  of  priestly  houses  in 
I  Chron.  xxiv.  18.  In  the  Sachau  Papyri  (i.  37)  one  of  the  two  sons 
of  Sanballat  is  so  called. 

shut  up  :  probably  ceremonially  unclean,  and  therefore  dis- 
qualified for  entering  the  Temple;  under  a  taboo  (see  i  Sam.  xxi. 
7  ;  I  Kings  xiv.  10;  W.  Robertson  Smith,  Rel.  SemS^\  456). 

Let  us  meet  tog'ether  in  the  house  of  God  :  since  Shemaiah, 
though  probably  a  priest,  was  for  the  time  ceremonially  excluded 
from  the  cultus,  and  no  layman  was  allowed  to  enter  the  Temple 
building,  the  proposal  now  made  involves  the  violation  of  two 
ritual  laws.  But  Shemaiah  was  prepared  to  sacrifice  religion  to 
tactical  considerations.  His  party  was  less  strict  than  Nehemiah's 
in  matters  of  '  the  law  of  Moses.' 

(let  us)  shut :  the  verb  usually  employed  of  shutting  doors, 
not  that  in  the  word  '  shut '  noticed  above. 

the  doors  of  the  temple  :  referring  to  the  two-leaved  door 
(hence  the  plural)  leading  from  the  inner  court  into  the  house 
(i  Kings  vi.  33),  not  the  doors  between  the  haykal  (holy  place)  and 
the  debir  (most  holy  place)  (i   Kings  vi.  31). 

to  slay :  showing  that  the  idea  of  slaying  him  was  spoken  about. 

11.  Nehemiah  has  too  much  courage  to  flee  and  too  much  conscience 
to  violate  the  sanctity  of  the  house  of  God. 

to  save  his  life :   in  accordance  with  the  primitive  law  of 

F  2 


2IO  NEHEMIAH  6.  13-16.     N 

I  discerned,  and,  lo,  God  had  not  sent  him  :  but  he  pro- 
nounced  this   prophecy  against  me  :   and   Tobiah  and 

13  Sanballat  had  hired  him.  For  this  cause  was  he  hired, 
that  I  should  be  afraid,  and  do  so,  and  sin,  and  that  they 
might  have  matter  for  an  evil  report,  that  they  might 

1+  reproach  me.  Remember,  O  my  God,  Tobiah  and 
Sanballat  according  to  these  their  works,  and  also  the 
prophetess  Noadiah,  and  the  rest  of  the  prophets,  that 
would  have  put  me  in  fear. 

1 5  So  the  wall  was  finished  in  the  twenty  and  fifth  day  of 

16  the  month  Elul,  in  fifty  and  two  days.     And  it  came  to 

asylum  connected  with  sanctuaries  and  altars.  See  Exod.  xxi.  13  ; 
I  Kings  i.  50  f.,  ii.  28  (see  note  on  former  in  Century  Bible, 
J.  Skinner)  ;  Mic.  x.  53;  W.  R.  Smith,  Rel.  Sem.W,  138,  436;  cf. 
Exod.  xxix.  12  ;  Lev.  iv.  7  ff. 

Nehemiah  will  not  break  what  he  regarded  as  a  Divine  law  for 
the  sake  of  saving  his  own  life. 

to  save  his  life:  lit.  ^that  he  may  live.' 

12.  I  discerned:  he  could  see  behind  appearances  (cf.  a  Sam. 
iii.  36)  that  this  man  was  inspired  by  the  prospect  of  cash  and  not 
by  any  Divine  impulse  (see  Jer.  xxiii.  21,  32  ;  Ezek.  xiii.  2  ;  and 
cf.  Num.  xvi.  28  and  Jer.  xxix.  19). 

13.  For  this  cause  was  he  hired:  the  Heb.  words  so  trans- 
lated are  no  doubt  a  dittograph  of  the  last  clause  of  ver.  12  slightly 
changed,  and  must  (with  Luc,  Siegfried,  &c.)  be  omitted.  The 
English  translation  is  here,  as  often,  so  well  done  as  to  largely  hide 
the  defects  of  the  Heb. 

14.  Bememher :  for  evil  here,  as  in  xiii.  29  ;  cf.  v.  19,  xiii.  22, 
31  ('  remember  for  good  '). 

Noadiah  ( = '  one  who  meets  Yah  ')  :  nowhere  else  men- 
tioned. For  other  prophetesses  cf.  Miriam,  Deborah,  Huldah, 
Hannah. 

15  f.    The  work  completed. 

15.  Blul :  the  sixth  month  (August-September),  the  eleventh 
in  the  secular  year  as  now  observed  (see  on  Ezra  x.  17).  It  is 
not  named  in  the  O.T.  except  here,  though  it  is  mentioned  in 
I  Mace.  xiv.  27. 

fifty  and  two  days  :  this  may  seem  a  very  short  interval  of  time 
for  so  great  a  task  to  be  accomphshed,  but  there  are  many  con- 
siderations which  make  for  the  account  here  given,  (i)  It  must 
have  been  a  condition  of  Nehemiah's  leave  of  absence  that  he 


NEHEMIAH  6.  17,18.     N  211 

pass,  when  all  our  enemies  heard  thereof^  that  all  the 
heathen  that  were  about  us  ^  feared,  and  were  much  cast 
down  in  their  own  eyes:  for  they  perceived  that  this  work 
was  wrought  of  our  God.  Moreover  in  those  days  the  17 
nobles  of  Judah  sent  many  letters  unto  Tobiah,  and  the 
letters  of  Tobiah  came  unto  them.  For  there  were  18 
many  in  Judah  sworn  unto  him,  because  he  was  the  son 
in  law  of  Shecaniah  the  son  of  Arah;  and  his  son 
*  According  to  another  reading,  saw, 

should  expedite  the  work  as  much  as  possible.  That  he  remained 
away  twelve  years  was  due  to  difficulties  in  reform  and  reorgani- 
zation which  could  not  be  foreseen  (see  on  ii.  6).  (2)  v.  16  gives  the 
impression  of  great  haste  in  the  work.  (3)  The  walls  had  not  to 
be  built  but  only  rebuilt,  and  there  are  indications  in  ch.  iii  that 
large  parts  needed  little  or  no  repairing  (see  ver.  13,  &c.).  (4)  It 
is  exceedingly  probable  that  others  before  Nehemiah  had  set 
about  the  restoration  of  the  walls,  though  they  were  hindered 
and  their  work  to  some  extent  undone  (see  p.  160,  between 
Ezra  and  Nehemiah),  (5)  The  materials  for  the  building  were 
for  the  most  part  ready  to  hand,  for  the  old  stones  could  be  used 
for  the  new  wall  or  parts  of  the  wall. 

According  to  Josephus  {Antiq.,  v.  7,  8)  the  builders  took  two 
years  and  four  months  for  the  work.  Ewald  following  him  in  this 
would  in  the  present  verse  insert  *  two  years,'  reading  therefore 
*  two  years  and  fifty-two  days,'  which  would,  however,  be  less 
than  the  time  given  by  Josephus  to  the  extent  of  some  two  months. 
All  the  versions  are  in  favour  of  the  M.T.,  from  which  there  are  no 
good  reasons  for  departing. 

16.  were  mnch  cast  down  ;  lit.  <  fell  very  much,'  an  unique  ex- 
pression, though  intelligible.  It  is  better  to  make  a  small  change 
in  one  word  and  to  read  (with  Klostermann)  *  and  it  was  very 
wonderful  in  their  eyes.' 

this  work  was  wrought  '>f  our  God  :  a  thought  constantly 
in  the  mind  of  Nehemiah  (set  i.  5  f.,  &c.)  ;  cf.  Ps.  cxviii.  23, 
cxxvi.  2  f. 

17-19.  Jewish  noblemen  conspire  with  Tobiah. 

17.  nobles:  see  onii.  16. 
letters :  see  on  ii.  7. 

18.  sworn  unto  him:  upon  his  marrying  into  a  Jewish 
family  there  would  be  on  both  sides  an  undertaking  by  oath,  he  to 
be  loyal  to  his  new  people,  they  to  be  true  to  their  new  initiate. 

Arah:  see  vii.  10;  Ezra  ii.  5. 


^J2  NEHEMIAH  6.  19—7.  2.     N. 

Jehohanan  had  taken  the  daughter  of  Meshullam  the 
19  son  of  Berechiah  to  wife.     Also  they  spake  of  his  good 

deeds  before  me,  and  reported  my  words  to  him.     And 

Tobiah  sent  letters  to  put  me  in  fear. 
7      Now  it  came  to  pass,  when  the  wall  was  buiH,  and  I 

had  set  up  the  doors,  and  the  porters  and  the  singers 
a  and  the  Levites  were  appointed,  that  I  gave  my  brother 

Hanani,  and  Hananiah  the  governor  of  the  castle,  charge 

over  Jerusalem  :  for  he  was  a  faithful  man,  and  feared 

Meshnllam  :  see  on  iii.  4,  30. 

had  taken  ...  to  wife  :  see  on  ii.  10.  In  the  East  slaves  not 
seldom  rise  to  high  positions  and  make  grand  marriages ;  cf.  the 
Mameluke  dynasties  of  Egypt.  Some  of  the  finest  Arab  poets  were 
at  first  slaves. 

19.  Render,  '  And  they  spake  before  me  with  regard  to  his 
words,  and  reported  to  him  my  words.' 

his  gfood  deeds  :  Heb.  '  his  good '  (qualities,  words,  deeds  ?), 
a  mere  adjective  in  the  feminine  ( =  neuter)  ;  read  '  his  words '  : 
so  LXX  ;  cf.  Syr.,  *  my  good  words  '  and  parallelism. 

VII.  i-73»  +  XI.  I  flf. 

Measures  taken  for  the  Defence  of  the  City  and  the 

Increase  of  its  Population. 

1-3.  Provisions  for  the  defence  of  the  city. 

1.  doors  :  see  on  iii.  3  and  vi.  i. 

porters  :  better  '  gate-keepers,'  the  word  being  a  denomina- 
tive from  the  noun  =  '  gate '  (see  on  Ezra  ii.  42). 

singers  .  .  .  levites :  probably  an  early  addition  to  the  text, 
so  early  that  all  the  versions  vouch  for  it.  What  had  these  Temple 
officials  to  do  with  the  city  gates  ?  The  older  and  many  modem 
commentators  say  that  Nehemiah  appointed  them  to  share  the 
responsibility  of  guarding  the  gates  because  they  could,  above  most 
Jerusalemites  (cf.  vi.  17-19),  be  trusted. 

2.  Hanani:  see  on  i.  2  :  as  a  well-tried  brother  he  could  trust 
him  as  he  could  also  Hananiah,  the  governor  of  the  citadel  or 
castle  (see  on  ii.  8),  who  was  really  general  of  the  city  forces,  per- 
haps a  Persian  official,  though  (cf.  name)  a  Jew  by  nationality. 

he  was  a  faithful  man :  referring  to  Hananiah.  His  own 
brother's  loyalty  was  too  well  known  to  need  chronicling.  Nehe- 
miah did  well  for  his  cause  in  placing  two  men  so  trustworthy  in 
general  charge  of  Jerusalem. 


NEHEMIAH  7.  3.    N  213 

God  above  many.     And  t  said  unto  them,  Let  not  the  3 
gates  of  Jerusalem  be  opened  until  the  sun  be  hot ;  and 
while  they  stand  071  guards  let  them   shut  the  doors, 
and  bar  ye  them:  and  appoint  watches  of  the  inhabitants 
of  Jerusalem,  every  one  in  his  watch,  and  every  one  to  be 

3.  I  said :  correcting  rightly  (with  all  the  ancient  versions) 
the  Heb.  consonantal  text,  'he  said.' 

until  the  sun  be  hot :  until  the  sun  has  fully  risen,  perhaps 
no  more  is  meant.  The  gates  of  Eastern  cities  are  opened  as  soon 
as  the  sun  rises.  Is  the  phrase  in  the  text  intended  to  prevent  a 
confusion  between  the  sunshine  and  moonshine? 

and  while  they  (the  porters)  stand :  the  words  on  guard 
are  inserted  by  our  translators  to  supply  the  deficiencies  of  the 
M.  T.  The  Heb.  is  in  other  respects  peculiar  and  even  inaccu- 
rate. It  is  better  to  make  some  changes  in  the  text  (see  Bertholet) 
and  to  render,  *  And  while  the  sun  is  hot  (  =  before  sunset)  let  the 
doors  be  shut  and  barred.' 

let  them  shut  .  i  .  bar  ye  them :  both  verbs  are  passive 
in  the  versions,  and  by  a  well-known  idiom  (*  indefinite  subject ') 
the  Heb.  can  be  so  rendered,  making,  however,  a  slight  change 
in  the  second  verb. 

shut :  the  Heb.  verb  is  found  nowhere  else  in  the  O.T. ,  though 
in  the  Talmud  it  has  in  the  same  form  {Hi'ph)  the  same  meaning. 

bar  ye  :  read  passive  third  pers.  Met  thembar'  = 'let  (them) 
be  barred  '  (see  before).  The  verb  =  '  to  lay  hands  on,'  '  seize/  but 
seems  in  i  Kings  vi.  lo  to  mean  as  here  to  '  apply  the  bars  to.' 

appoint :  the  verb  is  infinitive  absolute,  used  as  a  strong  im- 
perative— so  often.  No  textual  change  is  therefore  necessary. 
The  persons  addressed  are  Hanani  and  Hananiah. 

watches  :  divisions  of  the  night  for  the  purpose  of  watching. 
Before  the  exile  and  for  long  afterwards  the  Hebrews  had  (as  the 
Greeks  and  Babylonians)  three  watches  of  four  hours  each.  In 
our  Lord's  day  and  for  some  time  (how  long?)  before  there  were 
four  (see  Mark  xiii.  35  and  cf.  Matt.  xiv.  25  ;  Mark  vi.  48).  See  on 
Ps.  xc.  4  and  cxix.  148  {Century  Bible). 

These  two  men  were  to  set  up  (lit.  *  make  to  stand  '),  i.  e.  prob- 
ably restore,  a  system  of  night-watches  for  (all)  Jerusalem  men, 
whereby  each  was  to  take  his  turn,  and  in  doing  so  to  stand  sentinel 
in  front  of  his  own  house.  How  all  this  was  arranged  is  a  matter 
of  detail  about  which  the  surviving  writings  of  the  annalist  tell  us 
nothing,  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  it  would  be  seen  to  that  no 
extensive  portion  of  the  city  was  at  any  time  without  its  watchman. 
There  was  certainly  but  one  set  of  watchmen,  not  many,  as  some 
(Bertheau,  &c.)  have  thought,  for  no  difference  of  functions  is 
implied. 


214  NEHEMIAH  7.4,5.    N 

4  over  against  his  house.  Now  the  city  was  wide  and  large  : 
but  the  people  were  few  therein,  and  the  houses  were 

.«>  not  builded.  And  my  God  put  into  my  heart  to  gather 
together  the  nobles,  and  the  ^  rulers,  and  the  people,  that 
they  might  be  reckoned  by  genealogy.     And  I  found  the 

^  Or,  deputies 

4-73*  +  xi.  1  ff.  Measures  for  increasing  the  population  of  Jerusalem. 

4.  (the  city  was)  wide ;  Heb.  'wide  on  both  hands,'  the  literal 
sense  of  the  phrase  in  Ps.  civ.  25.  The  words  take  on,  however, 
as  here,  the  meaning  of  extending  far  in  all  directions  (see  Gen. 
xxxiv.  2,  &c.). 

houses  were  not  bnilded :  how,  then,  could  the  inhabitants 
when  watching  stand  before  them  ?  The  verb  rendered  '  builded ' 
means  '  rebuilt,'  and  even  *  repair,'  as  in  ch.  iii.  The  wall  is 
said  to  be  rebuilt,  though  much  of  it  was  perfect.  So  here  we  are 
probably  to  understand  that  the  work  of  restoring  the  houses  in 
a  general  way  had  not  been  undertaken  for  lack  of  a  sufficient 
population,  for  the  houses  taken  would  be  set  right  each  by  its 
occupants.  The  surmise  of  Paul  Haupt  that  *  houses '  refers  to 
the  families  which  had  not  been  reorganized  is  too  fanciful, 
though  favoured  by  the  following  verses  and  not  opposed  to 
usage  as  regards  the  word  '  house.' 

5.  my  God  put  into  my  heart,  &c.  :  see  ii.  12  and  Ezra  vii.  27. 
nobles  .  .  .  rulers :  see  on  ii.  16. 

people:  see  on  v.  i,  17. 

that  they  might  be  reckoned  by  gfenealogfy  =  that  they 
might  be  allocated  each  to  his  tribe,  clan,  and  family :  see  on 
Ezra  ii.  62. 

Most  scholars  agree  that  the  purpose  for  which  the  register  of 
families,  &c.,  was  now  called  for  and  supplied  was  with  a  view  to 
the  repeopling  of  Jerusalem.  A  proportion  of  the  country  popu- 
lation would  have  to  be  transferred  to  the  capital,  but  only  such 
as  were  pure-blooded  Jews  (see  xi.  i  ff.).  In  order  to  be  able  to 
prove  the  possession  of  this  qualification  a  genealogical  register 
was  necessary,  and  was  found  where  the  author  of  Ezra  ii  found 
his— in  fact,  it  is  the  same  list.  This  interpretation  assumed  an 
immediate  connexion  between  ver.  73*  and  xi.  i,  the  section 
73''-x  being  regarded  as  an  extract  from  the  biography  of  Ezra 
which  has  accidentally  or  otherwise  got  away  from  its  right  place. 
There  is  not  a  word  in  this  chapter  indicating  explicitly  the  raison 
(VHre  of  this  list  at  this  time,  but  the  explanation  given  above  is  at 
least  a  reasonable  one.     See  further  on  xi. 

I  found  the  book  of  the  g-enealogy,  &c :  where  ?  perhaps 
in  the  Temple  archives  :  see  Introduction  to  Ezra  ii. 


NEHEMIAH  7.  6-26.     N  Tr  215 

book  of  the  genealogy  of  them  which  came  up  at  the  first, 
and  I  found  written  therein  :  [Tr]  ^^ These  are  the  children  6 
of  the  province,  that  went  up  out  of  the  captivity  of 
those  that  had  been  carried  away,  whom  Nebuchadnezzar 
the  king  of  Babylon  had  carried  away,  and  that  returned 
unto  Jerusalem  and  to  Judah,  every  one  unto  his  city; 
who  came  with  Zerubbabel,  Jeshua,  Nehemiah,  Azariah,  7 
Raamiah,    Nahamani,    Mordecai,    Bilshan,    Mispereth, 
Bigvai,  Nehum,  Baanah.      The  number  of  the  men  of 
the  people  of  Israel :  the  children  of  Parosh,  two  thou-  8 
sand  an  hundred  and  seventy  and  two.     The  children  of  9 
Shephatiah,  three  hundred  seventy  and  two.     The  child-  10 
ren  of  Arab,  six  hundred  fifty  and  two.     The  children  of  1 1 
Pahath-moab,  of  the  children  of  Jeshua  and  Joab,  two 
thousand  and  eight  hundred  fl«^  eighteen.    The  children  13 
of  Elam,  a  thousand  two  hundred  fifty  and  four.     The  13 
children  of  Zattu,  eight  hundred  forty  and  five.     The  14 
children    of    Zaccai,    seven    hundred    and    threescore. 
The  children  of  Binnui,  six  hundred  forty  and  eight.  The  i5)  16 
children  of  Bebai,  six  hundred  twenty  and  eight.  The  child-  1 7 
ren  of  Azgad,  two  thousand  three  hundred  twenty  and 
two.     The  children  of  Adonikam,  six  hundred  threescore  18 
and  seven.     The  children  of  Bigvai,  two  thousand  three- 19 
score  and  seven.  The  children  of  Adin,  six  hundred  fifty  ao 
and  five.     The  children  of  Ater,  of  Hezekiah,  ninety  and  21 
eight.     The  children  of  Hashum,  three  hundred  twenty  22 
and  eight.     The  children  of  Bezai,  three  hundred  twenty  23 
and  four.     The   children   of  Hariph,  an  hundred  and  24 
twelve.     The  children  of  Gibeon,  ninety  and  five.     The  25, 26 
men  of  Bethlehem  and  Netophah,  an  hundred  fourscore 

•  See  Ezra  ii.  i,  &c. 
6-73*.  List  of  those  who  returned.     As  this  list  is  practically 
identical  with  that  in  Ezra  ii  the  reader  must  for  lack  of  space  be 
referred  to  the  general  and  detailed  remarks  on  that  chapter. 


2t6  NEHEMIAH  7.  27-51.     Tr 

37  and  eight.    The  men  of  Anathoth,  an  hundred  twenty  and 

28, 29  eight.     The  men  of  Beth-azmaveth,  forty  and  two.    The 

men   of  Kiriath-jearim,  Chephirah,  and  Beeroth,  seven 

30  hundred  forty  and  three.    The  men  of  Ramah  and  Geba, 

31  six  hundred  twenty  and  one.     The  men  of  Michmas,  an 

32  hundred  and  twenty  and  two.     The  men  of  Beth-el  and 

33  Ai,  an  hundred  twenty  and  three.    The  men  of  the  other 

34  Nebo,  fifty  and  two.     The  children  of  the  other  Elam, 

35  a  thousand  two  hundred  fifty  and  four.     The  children 

36  of  Harim,  three  hundred  and  twenty.     The  children  of 

37  Jericho,  three  hundred  forty  and  five.  The  children 
of  Lod,   Hadid,  and  Ono,  seven  hundred  twenty   and 

38  one.     The    children    of    Senaah,   three   thousand   nine 

39  hundred  and  thirty.  The  priests:  the  children  of  Jedaiah, 
of  the  house  of  Jeshua,  nine  hundred  seventy  and  three. 

40,  41  The  children  of  Immer,  a  thousand  fifty  and  two.     The 
children  of  Pashhur,  a  thousand  two  hundred  forty  and 

42  seven.     The  children  of  Harim,  a  thousand  and  seven- 

43  teen.     The  Levites  :  the  children  of  Jeshua,  of  Kadmiel, 

44  of  the  children  of  *  Hodevah,  seventy  and  four.  The 
singers :   the  children  of  Asaph,  an  hundred   forty  and 

45  eight.  The  porters  :  the  children  of  Shallum,  the  child- 
ren of  Ater,  the  children  of  Talmon,  the  children  of 
Akkub,  the  children  of  Hatita,  the  children  of  Shobai, 

46  an  hundred  thirty  and  eight.  The  Nethinim  :  the  child- 
ren of  Ziha,  the  children  of  Hasupha,  the  children  of 

47  Tabbaoth ;  the  children  of  Keros,   the  children  of  Sia, 

48  the  children  of  Padon  ;  the  children  of  Lebana,  the  child- 
4p  ren   of  Hagaba,  the  children   of  Salmai ;   the  children 

of  Hanan,  the  children  of  Giddel,  the  children  of  Gahar; 

50  the  children  of  Reaiah,  the  children  of  Rezin,  the  child- 

51  ren  of  Nekoda  ;   the  children  of  Gazzam,  the  children  of 

•  Another  reading  is,  Hodeiah. 


NEHEMIAH  7.  52-67.     T^  217 

Uzza,  the  children  of  Paseah ;  the  children  of  Besai,  52 
the  children  of  Meunim,  the  children  of  ^  Nephushesim; 
the  children  of  Bakbuk,  the  children  of  Hakupha,  the  53 
children  of  Harhur;  the  children  of  Bazlith,  the  child-  54 
ren  of  Mehida,  the  children  of  Harsha ;  the  children  of  55 
Barkos,  the  children  of  Sisera,  the  children  of  Temah ; 
the  children  of  Neziah,  the  children  of  Hatipha.     The  56,  57 
children  of  Solomon's  servants  :  the  children  of  Sotai, 
the  children  of  Sophereth,  the  children  of  Perida ;  the  5S 
children  of  Jaala,  the  children  of  Darkon,  the  children  of 
Giddel;  the  children  of  Shephatiah,  the  children  of  Hattil,  59 
the   children   of   Pocherethhazzebaim,   the   children   of 
Anion.    All  the  Nethinim,  and  the  children  of  Solomon's  60 
servants,  were  three  hundred  ninety  and  two.    And  these  61 
were  they  which  went  up  from  Tel-melah,  Tel-harsha, 
Cherub,  Addon,  and  Immer :  but  they  could  not  shew 
their  fathers'  houses,  nor  their  seed^  whether  they  were  of 
Israel :   the  children  of  Delaiah,  the  children  of  Tobiah,  62 
the  children  of  Nekoda,  six  hundred  forty  and  two.    And  63 
of  the  priests  :  the  children  of  Hobaiah,  the  children  of 
Hakkoz,  the  children  of  Barzillai,  which  took  a  wife  of 
the  daughters  of  Barzillai  the  Gileadite,  and  was  called 
after  their  name.    These  sought  their  register  among  those  64 
that  were  reckoned  by  genealogy,  but  it  was  not  found  : 
therefore  ^  were  they  deemed  polluted  and  put  from  the 
priesthood.     And  the  c  Tirshatha  said  unto  them,  that  65 
they  should  not  eat  of  the  most  holy  things,  till  there 
stood  up  a  priest  with  Urim  and  Thummim.     The  whole  66 
congregation  together  was  forty  and  two  thousand  three 
hundred  and  threescore,  beside  their  menservants  and  67 
their  maidservants,  of  whom  there  were  seven  thousand 

'  Another  reading  is,  Nephishesim. 
^  Heb.  they  were  polluted  from  the  priesthood.  '  Or.  goiiemor 


2i8  NEHEMIAH  7.  68-73.     T^Ce 

three  hundred  thirty  and  seven :  and  they  had  two  hun- 

68  dred  forty  and  five  singing  men  and  singing  women.  Their 
horses  were  seven  hundred  thirty  and  six ;  their  mules, 

69  two  hundred  forty  and  five ;  their  camels,  four  hun- 
dred thirty  and  five ;   their  asses,  six  thousand  seven 

70- hundred  and  twenty.  And  some  from  among  the  heads 
of  fathers'  houses  gave  unto  the  work.  The  Tirshatha 
gave  to  the  treasury  a  thousand  darics  of  gold,  fifty  basons, 

71  five  hundred  and  thirty  priests'  garments.  And  some  of 
the  heads  of  fathers'  houses  gave  into  the  treasury  of  the 
work  twenty  thousand  darics  of  gold,  and  two  thousand 

72  and  two  hundred  «■  pound  of  silver.  And  that  which  the 
rest  of  the  people  gave  was  twenty  thousand  darics  of  gold, 
and  two  thousand  pound  of  silver,  and  threescore  and 

73  seven  priests'  garments.  So  the  priests,  and  the  Levites, 
and  the  porters,  and  the  singers,  and  some  of  the  people, 
and  the  Nethinim,  [Ce]  and  all  Israel,  dwelt  in  their  cities. 

^  And  when  the  seventh  month  was  come,  the  child- 
*  Heb.  maneh.  ^  See  Ezra  iii.  t. 

The  Reforms  of  Ezra,  continuing  the  History  of  Ezra  X. 

vii.  73''-viii.  12  (=1  Esd.  ix.   37-55).      The   public   reading  of 
the  law  and  its  effect  on  the  people.     This  section  forms  a  natural 
sequel  to  Ezra  x  :  see  Introduction  to  Ezra  ix.  f. 
■    vii.  73^-viii.  8.      The  reading  and  expounding  of  the  law. 

vii.  73''  and  viii.  i  have  so  much  in  common  with  Ezra  iii.  i 
that  some  connexion  seems  likely,  especially  as  in  both  cases 
a  genealogical  register  precedes.  The  resemblances  are  probably 
due  to  the  fact  that  the  writer  of  the  present  paragraph  had  the 
other  before  him.  vii.  73^  might  well  be  an  interpolation,  though 
it  has  the  support  of  all  the  versions. 

*72>^.  the  seventh  month  :  i.  e.  Tishri  (see  on  Ezra  iii.  i).  What 
year  is  meant  we  are  not  told,  but  the  inquiry  regarding  the 
mixed  marriages  was  brought  to  an  end  in  the  tenth  month  of 
457  B.C.  (see  Ezra  x.  17  and  the  context),  the  putting  away  of  the 
strange  wives  occurring  on  the  first  day  of  the  following  year, 
i.  e.  Nisan  i,  456.  It  seems  likely  that  the  '  seventh  month '  of 
the  present  verse  belongs  to  the  year  last  named.     The  coinci* 


NEHEMIAH  8.  i,  2.     Ce  21^ 

ren  of  Israel  were  in  their  cities.    And  all  the  people  8 
gathered  themselves  together  as  one  man  into  the  broad 
place  that  was  before  the  water  gate ;  and  they  spake  unto 
Ezra  the  scribe  to  bring  the  book  of  the  law  of  Moses, 
which  the  Lord  had  commanded  to  Israel.    And  Ezra  the  2 


dence  of  popular  assemblies  meeting  in  Tishri  at  widely  separated 
periods  (Ezra  iii.  i  and  here)  need  occasion  no  surprise,  since  in  it 
the  most  important  festivals  were  held — Atonement,  Tabernacles, 
&c.  Besides,  originally,  as  now,  this  month  began  the  new  year, 
and  this  might  well  suggest  a  new  start  in  life,  made  more  possible 
by  having  the  law  of  their  life  made  known  to  the  people. 
1.  broad  place  :  see  on  iii.  26  and  Ezra  x,  9. 

water  gate  :  see  on  iii.  26. 

and  they  spake  ...  to  bringf :  the  Hebrew  means  '  they 
gave  orders  .  .  .  that  he  should  bring,'  the  Hebrew  as  in  Esther  i. 
17  (R.V.  '  commanded  ')  and  iv.  13  (R.V.  *  bade  ').  Since  Ezra 
had  brought  with  him  a  copy  of  the  law  (Ezra  vii.  25),  it  has 
been  ever  regarded  as  surprising  that  he  should  have  so  long 
withheld  it,  and  hence  Winckler  joins  the  present  chapter  imme- 
diately to  Ezra  viii,  though  the  evidently  close  connexion  between 
Ezra  viii  and  ix  makes  this  supposition  an  impossible  one  :  see 
p.  133  f. 

(Ezra)  the  scribe  :  read  with  i  Esdras  '  the  priest  and 
scribe  '  (see  verses  2,  4,  9). 

the  book  of  the  law  of  Moses :  called  in  ver.  2  '  the  law,'  and 
in  ver.  5  *  the  book,'  the  former  indicating  its  contents  and  the 
latter  its  form  (the  Hebrew  rendered  'book'  means  in  the  O.  T. 
'roll,'  though  there  is  also  for  the  latter  a  distinct  word).  The 
Hebrew  torah,  translated  '  law,'  means  strictly 'teaching,'  'instruc- 
tion.' In  Ps.  Ixxviii.  i  '  my  law  '  is  parallel  to  '  the  words  of  my 
mouth.'  It  came  to  denote  especially  the  Divine  will  as  revealed 
through  prophets  and  priests,  and  hence  soon  acquired  the  sense 
'law.'  In  post-biblical  Hebrew  it  is  the  technical  term  for  the 
Pentateuch,  but  it  never  has  that  meaning  in  the  O.  T.  The  law 
which  Ezra  brought  and  published  was  much  smaller  in  its  scope 
than  the  '  Five  Books,'  and  did  not  contain  the  whole  of  the 
Priestly  Code,  though  largely  coinciding  with  it.  The  early 
religious  laws  of  the  Hebrews  came  soon  to  be  connected  with 
the  name  of  Moses,  the  traditional  legislator  of  the  nation,  just  as 
the  religious  songs  were  at  an  early  time  ascribed  to  the  David  of 
Chronicles,  David  the  organizer  of  the  Temple  Psalmody.  See 
for  a  fuller  discussion  of  the  nature  and  extent  of  Ezra's  law,  ■ 
p.  8  ff. 


i^zp  NEHEMIAH  8.  3.     C^ 

priest  brouglit  the  law  before  the  congregation,  both  men 
and  women,  and  all  that  could  hear  with  understanding, 
3  upon  the  first  day  of  the  seventh  month.  And  he  read 
therein  before  the  broad  place  that  was  before  the  water 
gate  ^from  early  morning  until  midday,  in  the  presence 
of  the  men  and  the  women,  and  of  those  that  could  under- 
stand ;  and  the  ears  of  all  the  people  were  attentive  unto 

'  Heb.  from  the  light. 

2.  congreg'ation  :  see  on  Ezra  ii.  64. 

The  old  tradition  that  Ezra  established  and  presided  over  an 
institution  called  the  Great  Synagogue,  which  in  the  interval 
between  the  prophets  and  the  scribes  superintended  Jewish 
affairs,  arose  out  of  the  ad  hoc  assemblies  described  in  Neh.  viii-x, 
and  has  not  a  vestige  of  support  in  the  O.  T.,  though  it  is  implied 
in  the  Mishna  iPirqe  Abot,  i).  Elias  Levita  (d.  1549)  started  the 
view,  afterwards  so  generally  held,  that  the  O.  T.  Canon  was  fixed 
by  this  council  with  Ezra  at  its  head,  though  it  is  now  quite 
certain  that  many  parts  of  the  O.  T.  were  not  even  written  until 
centuries  later.  It  is  strange  to  find  a  modern  Jewish  scholar  like 
Dr.  Schechter  ^  adhering  still  to  this  tradition,  though  its  absurdity 
has  been  proved  by  Kuenen  (see  his  Collected  Essays,  edited  and 
put  into  German  by  Budde,  p.  125  ff.)  :  of.  W.  Robertson  Smith, 
07yC(2),  169  f.  (n.). 

and  all  that  could  hear  with  understanding :  better  (so 
Heb.)  *all  that  understood  as  they  heard.'  Of  course  children 
are  meant  (see  x.  28  (29)).  The  Hebrew  verb,  which  =  *  to 
understand,'  has  also  the  causative  sense  'to  cause  to  understand,' 
as  in  verses  7,  9,  &c.  (see  on  Ezra  viii.  16).  This  is  according  to 
a  usage  well  known  to  Hebrew  and  Arabic  scholars  (*  Inner 
Hiphil'). 

the  first  day  of  the  seventh  month  :  a  great  day  among  the 
Jews  (see  Lev.  xxiii.  23-25 ;  Num.  xxix.  1-6,  post-exilic 
passages).  From  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great  Jews  have 
kept  this  day  as  their  New  Year  day.  In  Nehemiah's  day  the 
importance  attached  to  the  day  seems  a  survival  of  early  usage, 
for  it  was  in  Nisan  that  the  year  began  in  the  centuries  imme- 
diately following  the  exile.  See  on  Ezra  x.  17. 
p  3.  from  early  morning' :  Heb.  (not  as  in  the  R. Vm.  *  but ') 
*from  the  time  it  began  to  be  light.' 

until  midday,  when  the  excessive  heat  made  further  standing 
in  the  open  impracticable.  Most  Orientals  have  about  this  time 
of  the  day  a  long  siesta. 

*  See  Studies  in  Judaism,  2nd  series,  pp.  67  and  105  £. 


NEHEMIAH  8.  4.     Cp  221 

the  book  of  the  law.  And  Ezra  the  scribe  stood  upon  a  4 
^  pulpit  of  wood,  which  they  had  made  for  the  purpose  ; 
and  beside  him  stood  Mattithiah,  and  Shema,  and  Anaiah, 
and  Uriah,  and  Hilkiah,  and  Maaseiah,  on  his  right  hand; 
and  on  his  left  hand,  Pedaiah,  and  Mishael,  and  Malchi- 
jah,  and  Hashum,  and  Hashbaddanah,  Zechariah,  a/td 

*  Heb.  tower. 

4.  (Ezra)  the  scribe  :  read  ^^with  i  Esdras)  '  the  priest  and 
scribe,'  as  in  ver.  i  (see  on). 

pulpit:  the  Hebrew  word  is  the  ordinary  one  for  'tower,' 
but  means  literally  'what  is  high.'  Here  one  may  think  of 
a  wooden  platform  capable  of  holding  over  a  dozen  (or  over 
fourteen)  men.  A  pulpit  in  the  modern  sense  is  of  course  out  of 
the  question,  and  for  that  reason  the  use  of  the  word  is  misleading 
and  unfortunate. 

(made)  for  tlie  purpose  :  Syr.,  Luc,  and  Vulg.  (varying  the 
Hebrew  vowels)  read  *  to  speak '  (on).    The  LXX  omits  the  clause. 

and  beside  him,  &c.  :  the  number  of  men  (Levites?)  on 
Ezra's  right  and  left  hand  respectively  differ  in  the  various 
authorities  as  follows:  M.T.  and  Syr.,  six  and  seven;  the  LXX 
(best  MSS.),  six  and  four  ;  Luc,  seven  and  seven  ;  Vulg.,  six  and 
six  ;  I  Esdras,  seven  and  six.  As  a  copyist  is  more  likely  to  omit 
than  to  insert,  Luc.  (seven  on  both  hands)  is  more  likely  to 
represent  the  original  text,  though  the  number  twelve  (six  on  each 
side)  would  correspond  to  the  number  of  tribes,  and  is  therefore 
often  preferred.  Apart  from  omission  in  the  smaller  lists,  the  names 
are  in  the  main  identical.  The  names  here  mentioned  seem,  as 
Bertheau  points  out,  to  stand  for  individuals  and  not,  as  in  the  names 
in  iii,  in  ver.  7  and  in  ix.  4,  x.  9,  the  names  of  clans  or  families. 

Who  were  these  fourteen  (or  twelve?)  men?  Probably 
priests,  though  not  (as  Rawlinson)  'chief  priests  of  the  course 
which  was  at  the  time  performing  the  temple  service.'  Some  of 
the  names  in  this  list  appear  in  x.  2-9  as  priests,  as  Malchiah, 
MeshuUam,  and  perhaps  Maaseiah  (?  =  Maaziah),  though  in  the 
latter  the  names  stand  for  clans  or  houses.  The  law  now  made 
public  by  Ezra  had  been  gradually  evolved  within  the  priestly 
circle  before,  during,  and  after  the  exile,  and  as  in  it  the  rights 
and  privileges  of  the  priests  were  safeguarded,  one  would  expect 
to  see  Ezra  supported  by  the  priesthood  on  so  memorable  an 
occasion  as  this.  Why,  however,  do  we  not  read  of  the  attend- 
ance and  support  of  the  high-priest,  who  in  the  new  community 
had  been  accorded  so  favoured  a  place  ?  Perhaps  envy  of  Ezra's 
assumed  position  kept  this  official  away,  not,  surely,  opposition  to 


222  NEHEMIAH  8.  5-7.    Ce 

5  MeshuUam.  And  Ezra  opened  the  book  in  the  sight  of 
all  the  people;  (for  he  was  above  all  the  people;)  and 

6  when  he  opened  it,  all  the  people  stood  up :  and 
Ezra  blessed  the  Lord,  the  great  God.  And  all  the 
people  answered,  Amen,  Amen,  with  the  lifting  up  of 
their  hands  :  and  they  bowed  their  heads,  and  worshipped 

7  the  Lord  with  their  faces  to  the  ground.  Also  Jeshua, 
and  Bani,  and  Sherebiah,  Jamin,  Akkub,  Shabbethai, 
Hodiah,  Maaseiah,  Kelita,  Azariah,  Jozabad,  Hanan, 
Pelaiah,  and  the  Levites^  caused  the  people  to  understand 

the  publication  of  the  law  up  to  now  esoteric  in  the  priesthood, 
for  its  publication  could  not  but  promote  the  prestige  and  power 
of  the  high-priesthood. 

6.  opened  the  book  =  unrolled  the  parchment  roll :  see  Luke  iv. 
17.  Bound  books  in  the  modern  sense  were  not  known  until 
A.  D.  300.  Even  then  the  writing  material  was  parchment  or 
vellum. 

all  the  people  stood  up  :  according  to  Rabbinical  tradition 
it  was  the  custom  from  the  time  of  Moses  onwards  for  the  people 
to  stand  while  the  law  was  being  read.  Standing  was  a  mark  of 
respect :  see  Judges  iii.  20  and  perhaps  Job  xxxvii.  14.  Herzfeld 
quotes  the  latter  passage  for  his  rendering  here  '  stood  still.' 

6.  and  Ezra  blessed,  &c.  :  in  the  modern  synagogue  prayers 
are  offered  when  the  law  is  taken  from  its  keeping-place  (the 
haykal)  and  when  it  is  returned.  See  the  Jewish  Prayer  Book, 
Sabbath  morning  service. 

Amen  :  lit.  '  firm,' '  established  '  ;  then  as  adverb  *  certainly,' 
'assuredly.'  See  v.  13  ;  Deut.  xxvii.  14  f!".  ;  i  Kings  i.  36;  Jer. 
xi.  5,  xxviii.  6,  all  pre-exilic  passages  except  the  first,  showing 
that  the  word  was  in  use  before  the  exile.  Its  liturgical  use 
meets  us  in  post-exilic  writings  only,  as  in  Num.  v.  22  ;  i  Chron. 
xvi.  36  ;  Ps.  cvi.  48,  &c.,  though  one  cannot  therefore  say 
positively  that  this  latter  use  was  unknown  in  pre-exilic  times. 

with  the  lifting*  up  of  their  hands  :  see  on  Ezra  ix.  5. 

7.  Jeshua,  &c. :  of  the  thirteen  names  seven  are  mentioned  as 
Levites  elsewhere  (see  ix.  5  and  x.  9-14).  The  LXX  has  the  three 
first  names  only,  the  Vulgate  agreeing  with  the  M.  T.,  and  the 
Syr.  having  a  smaller  number — eleven.  The  names  all  stand  for 
the  families  so  called  (cf.  Jeshua),  though  of  course  they  were 
originally  personal. 

and  (the  Levites):  omit  with  Vulg.  and  i  Esdras.  If 
retained  it  is  the  explicative  'and'  (=*even'). 


NEHEMIAH  8.  8-9.     Cj.  223 

the  law  :  and  the  people  stood  in  their  place.     And  they  8 

read  in  the  book,  in  the  law  of  God,  ^  distinctly  ;  and 

they  gave  the  sense,  ^so  that  they  understood  the  reading. 

And  Nehemiah,  which  was  the  Tirshatha,  and  Ezra  the  9 

^  Or,  with  an  interpretation         ^  Or,  and  caused  them  to  understand 

and  the  people  stood  in  their  place  :  the  word  italicized 
occurs  in  2  Chron.  xxx.  16,  and  has  perhaps  to  be  restored  here  : 
see  Neh.  ix.  3,  where  a  verb  of  similar  import  occurs.  The  sense 
is  '  the  people  stood  in  the  place  set  apart  for  them.' 

8.  Render,  '  And  they  read  in  the  book  of  the  law  of  God, 
uttering  the  words  distinctly'  and  giving  the  sense  'of  the  words) 
and  the  (connected)  meaning  at  the  (  =  each)  section.' 

they  read:  perhaps  Ezra  read  the  section  {perashah),  the 
Levites  reading  the  prepared  interpretation. 

in  the  law :  omit  one  letter  repeated  by  mistake  and  read 
'  of  the  law.' 

distinctly:  see  on  Ezra  iv.  18.  The  form  of  the  word  has 
to  be  altered  so  as  to  assimilate  it  with  the  verbal  form  following, 
both  being  then  infinitive  absolutes  used  gerundially  :  see  the 
translation  above.  A  noun  cognate  with  the  verbal  form  occurs 
in  Esther  iv.  7  ('  exact  sum  ')  and  x.  2  ('  full  account '). 

(gave)  the  sense  :  i.  e.  the  meaning  of  the  words. 

so  that  they  understood :  make  a  slight  change  in  the 
Hebrew  and  thus  get  a  noun  parallel  to  that  translated  'sense.' 
The  word  thus  obtained  implies  a  deeper  knowledge,  one  involv- 
ing a  perception  of  the  relation  of  the  separate  things  considered. 
The  same  two  words  are  also  in  parallelism  in  i  Chron.  xxii.  12  ; 
2  Chron.  ii.  ir.  It  is  obviously  a  mistake  to  make  the  writer 
mean  that  as  the  people  v.^ere  ignorant  of  Hebrew  the  original  text 
had  to  be  turned  into  Aramaic.  The  Jews  had  not  lost  their 
knowledge  of  Hebrew  in  the  exile,  as  the  writings  of  Haggai, 
Zechariah,  Ezra,  Nehemiah,  &:c.,  show. 

the  reading*:  we  should  probably  render  '  at  the  (=^^ each) 
section,'  a  common  meaning  of  the  word  in  Rabbinical  Hebrew. 

9-12.  Ezra  commands  the  people  to  rejoice  and  not  to  weep. 

9.  Nehemiah  .  .  .  the  Tirshatha :  this  whole  clause  is 
certainly  to  be  omitted,  as  is  suggested  by  the  isolated  mention 
of  Nehemiah  here,  as  in  x.  2,  and  by  the  varied  forms  taken  by 
the  clause  in  the  Versions.  If  this  leader  were  on  the  scene  at 
this  time  he  could  not  have  played  a  great  part  in  the  reforms  now 
going  forward.  In  i  Esdras  we  have  simply  '  Attharates,'  which, 
as  I  Esd.  V.  40  shows,  is  given  as  a  proper  name.  In  the  Syr. 
'Nehemiah  the  high-priest'  is  the  phrase,  whereas  in  the  LXX 
it  is  simply  '  Nehemiah.'    Luc.  and  the  Vulg.  agree  with  theM.T. 

Q 


224  NEHEMIAH  8.  lo,  ii.     Ce 

priest  the  scribe,  and  the  Levites  that  taught  the  people, 
said  unto  all  the  people,  This  day  is  holy  unto  the  Lord 
your  God ;  mourn  not,  nor  weep.   For  all  the  people  wept, 

10  when  they  heard  the  words  of  the  law.  Then  he  said 
unto  them^  Go  your  way,  eat  the  fat,  and  drink  the  sweet, 
and  send  portions  unto  him  for  whom  nothing  is  prepared : 
for  this  day  is  holy  unto  our  Lord  :  neither  be  ye  grieved ; 

1 1  for  the  joy  of  the  Lord  is  your  ^  strength.  So  the  Levites 
stilled  all  the  people,  saying,  Hold  your  peace,  for  the 

^  Or,  strong  hold 

Tirshatha :  see  on  Ezra  ii.  63,  where  this  epithet  (not  an 
official  title)  is  applied  to  Zerubbabel.  Nehemiah  is  never  so 
described  ;  he  is  called  '  Governor '  (J>ekhah)  :  see  on  Ezra  viii.  36. 

(Ezra)  the  priest  the  scribe  :  see  verses  i,  4, 

the  Iievites  that  taught :  see  on  Ezra  viii.  16.  This  was 
their  function  ;  Ezra  seems  to  have  onl}'  read  the  portion  to  be 
explained  :  see  on  ver.  8. 

This  day  is  holy :  see  on  ver.  i.  It  was  the  new  moon 
of  the  seventh  month. 

mourn  not,  &c.:  note  how  in  an  earlier  sge  the  introduction 
of  the  Deuteronomic  law  was  followed  by  weeping,  as  the  publi- 
cation of  Ezra's  law  is  now  (see  2  Kings  xxii.  11,  19),  The 
people  saw  their  sins  in  a  new  light  when  the  standard  of  perfect 
conduct  was  brought  before  them.  But  festal  days  were  intended 
to  be  times  of  rejoicing  (see  next  verse). 

10.  he  (said) :  i.  e.  Ezra  :  see  on  ver.  9. 

eat  the  fat,  and  drink  the  sweet :  i.  e.  eat  and  drink  the 
best  you  can  get ;  do  not  fast  in  any  degree,  it  is  high  festival 
time. 

send  portions:  all  festivals  among  the  Semites  were 
seasons  of  social  conviviality,  to  which  the  sojourner,  orphan, 
widow,  &c.,  were  to  be  invited  (Deut.  xvi.  11,  14).  Portions  of 
what  was  offered  were  sent  to  those  who  could  not  join  the 
company,  the  poor,  &c.  (Esther  ix.  19,  22)  :  see  G.  B.  Gray  on 
Num.  xxii.  40.  The  word  rendered  '  portions  *  means  perhaps 
*  choice  bits  '  :  see  on  Esther  ii.  9. 

the  joy  of  the  IiOBD  (  =  Yahweh) :  objective  genitive,  *  the 
joy  you  have  or  take  in  Yahweh.'     See  Ps.  ix.  3,  xxxii.  11. 

your  strength :  Heb.  '  your  safe  retreat,'  *  refuge,'  not,  as  in 
the  R.Vm.,  *  stronghold,'  though  the  Massorites  so  explained 
the  word. 

11.  Hold  your  peace:  i.  e.  Do  not  weep  aloud  (see  ver.  9) 


NEHEMIAH  8.  12-14.     Ce  225 

day  is  holy  ;  neither  be  ye  grieved.     And  all  the  people  la 
went  their  way  to  eat,  and  to  drink,  and  to  send  portions, 
and  to  make  great  mirth,  because  they  had  understood  the 
words  that  were  declared  unto  them. 

And  on  the  second  day  were  gathered  together  the  13 
heads  of  fathers'  houses  of  all  the  people,  the    priests, 
and  the  Levites,  unto  Ezra  the  scribe,  even  to  give  atten- 
tion to  the  words  of  the  law.     And  they  found  written  in  14 

the  day  is  holy:  i.  e.  set  apart  for  Yahweh  ;  whatever  has  to 
do  with  Him  should  give  joy. 

12.  portions:  see  on  ver.  10. 

13-18.  Celebration  of  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles,  as  prescribed  by  the 
newly  found  law. 

It  is  the  month  Tishri  (see  on  ver.  i).  The  law  book  had  been 
made  known.  In  this  month  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  fell  (15  to 
21  or  to  22),  and  the  newly  instructed  people,  led  by  their  specially 
instructed  leaders,  set  about  the  keeping  of  this  festival.  It  is  now 
the  second  day,  and  thirteen  days  more  must  come  and  go  before 
'  the  Feast  '  (see  on  ver.  18)  will  begin.  The  tenth  day  of  the 
month  is  that  prescribed  in  the  Priestly  Code  for  what  became  the 
most  solemn  fast  of  the  Jewish  code  (see  Exod.  xxix.  36,  xxx.  10  ; 
Lev.  xxiii.  27  f.,  xxv.  9).  Yet  nothing  is  said  about  this  fast,  the 
Day  of  Atonement,  proof  enough  surely  that  the  laws  enacting  it 
formed  no  part  of  Ezra's  torah. 

13.  heads  of  fathers'  houses  .  .  .  priests  and  the  Levites: 
Ezra  now  instructs  an  inner  circle  in  his  law  as  he  had  previously 
the  whole  congregation.  His  purpose  would  be  to  supply  the 
leaders  with  information  about  points  too  recondite  for  the  multi- 
tude, and  also  perhaps  to  give  directions  as  to  the  carrying  out  of 
the  law. 

heads  of  fathers'  houses:  see  on  Ezra  ii.  59. 

even:  omit  with  the  versions  (LXX,  Luc,  Syr.,  Vulg.). 

to  g'ive  attention  to  :  better,  *  that  he  might  give  the  sense  of 
the  (different'  parts  of  the  law.'  The  Heb.  verb  here  is  cognate 
with  the  noun  rendered  '  sense '  in  ver.  8,  and  means  often  to 
'teach,'  as  in  ix.  20,  Ps.  xxxii.  8,  &c.,  i.  e.  '  to  give  the  sense  of.' 

the  words  of:  the  Heb.  term  denotes  'things'  as  well  as 
*  words,'  and  is  often  used  as  here  in  the  sense  of  details,  minutiae 
(see  Jer.  v.  21  ;  Ps.  Ixv.  4,  cxxxvii.  2,  cxlv.  5).  Ezra  had  to  ex- 
plain to  this  select  company  the  detailed  points  and  especially  the 
hard  ones  of  the  law. 

14.  The  laws  concerning  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  occur  in  all 
the  principal  Hexateuch  codes  in  different  fomis  corresponding  to 

Q  2 


226  NEHEMIAH  8.  15,  16.     Ch 

the  law,  how  that  the  Lord  had  commanded  by  Moses, 
that  the  children  of  Israel  should  dwell  in  booths  in  the 

15  feast  of  the  seventh  month:  and  that  they  should  publish 
and  proclaim  in  all  their  cities,  and  in  Jerusalem,  saying, 
Go  forth  unto  the  mount,  and  fetch  olive  branches,  and 
branches  of  wild  olive,  and  myrtle  branches,  and  palm 
branches,  and  branches  of  thick  trees,  to  make  booths, 

16  as  it  is  written.  So  the  people  went  forth,  and  brought 
them,  and  made  themselves  booths,  every  one  upon  the 

diflferent  stages  of  belief  and  practice  (see  Exod.  xxiii.  16  (JE) ; 
Deut.  xvi.  13,  16  ;  Lev.  xxiii.  39-43  (H) ;  and  Lev.  xxiii.  34-36  (P) ; 
Ezek.  xlv.  25).  The  statements  in  verses  14-18  of  the  present  chap- 
ter show  that  the  writer  had  before  him  the  third  of  the  above 
sections  alone  (Lev.  xxiii.  39-43)  which  belongs  to  the  Holiness 
Code  (Lev.  xvii-xxvi).  Moreover  the  words  given  as  written  in 
the  law  differ  in  detail  from  those  of  the  section  used,  showing 
that  small  importance  was  attached  to  the  mere  words  of  the  law. 

"by  Moses:  cf.  ver  i  ('the  law  of  Moses').  The  very  old 
tradition  as  to  the  Mosaic  origin  of  the  law  and  the  later  one  as 
to  the  Mosaic  origin  of  the  Pentateuch  is  so  far  correct  that  Moses 
must  have  laid  down  the  general  lines  of  a  legal  code  which  con- 
tinued to  be  modified  and  expanded  down  to  the  fourth  century 
B.  c. :  see  p.  10  f. 

that  the  children  of  Israel  should  dwell  in  booths  :  no- 
where else  in  the  O.T.  is  this  prescribed  except  in  Lev.  xxiii.  42. 
15.  that  they  should  publish  :  cf.  Lev.  xxiii.  i,  4. 

the  mount:  here  as  often  =  the  mountain  land,  i.  e.  Judah. 

fetch  olive  branches  ...  to  make  booths :  there  is  nothing 
in  Lev.  xxiii  saying  that  the  branches,  &c.,  to  be  gathered  were  to 
be  used  in  constructing  booths,  though  (so  Keil,  Dillmann,  &c,)  that 
may  be  intended.  All  that  is  commanded  is  that  the  people  were 
to  lake  the  fruit  of  goodly  trees,  '  branches  of  palm  trees,  boughs 
of  thick  trees  (  =  myrtles  according  to  tradition),  and  willows  of  the 
brook  '  (Lev.  xxiii.  40).  With  these  they  were  to  keep  the  feast 
(ver.  41).  Then  it  is  said  they  were  to  dwell  in  booths,  without 
any  hint  as  to  how  these  were  to  be  made.  Perhaps  (so  Kuenen) 
the  branches,  &c.,  in  ver.  40  were  to  be  used  also  in  forming 
the  bundles  {lulabs)  of  four  kinds  (myrtles,  &c.)  which,  since  early 
times,  have  been  brandished  during  the  feast  in  the  synagogues. 
Of  this  latter  custom  the  Bible  gives  no  explicit  account,  though  it 
may  be  implied  in  the  above  verse  of  Leviticus. 

as  it  is  written  :  see  on  ver.  14. 


NEHEMIAH  8.  17.     Ce  227 

roof  of  his  house^  and  in  their  courts,  and  in  the  courts 
of  the  house  of  God,  and  in  the  broad  place  of  the  water 
gate,  and  in  the  broad  place  of  the  gate  of  Ephraim.  And  1 7 
all  the  congregation  of  them  that  were  come  again  out  of 
the  captivity  made  booths,  and  dwelt  in  the  booths  :  for 
since  the  days  of  Jeshua  the  son  of  Nun  unto  that  day 
had  not  the  children  of  Israel  done  so.     And  there  was 

16.  the  roof  of  his  house  :  flat  in  Palestine  and  much  used 
as  places  of  resort  of  evenings  (see  2  Sam.  xi.  2  ;  Dan.  iv,  26),  and 
for  even  sleeping  on  in  summer.  During  the  feast  the  Jews  still 
take  their  meals  in  the  booths  as  far  as  weather,  means,  &c. ,  permit. 
courts  :  most  Palestine  houses  have  open  courts  with  wells 
of  water  on  which  the  inmates  depend  for  their  supply. 

the  broad  place  of  the  water  gate :  see  on  iii.  26,  and  on 
Ezra  X.  9. 

the  gate  of  Ephraim  :  see  on  iii,  6  and  xii.  39;  cf.  2  Kings 
xiv.  13  ;  2  Chron.  xxv.  23.  It  was  a  little  to  the  south-west  of 
the  corner,  and  (according  to  G.  A.  Smith)  south  of  the  line  of 
wall  repaired  under  Nehemiah. 

17.  all  the  congregation  of  them,  &c. :  render  according  to 
the  Heb.,  '  All  the  congregation,  (even)  those  who  returned,'  &c. 
The  word  in  brackets  is  inserted  to  make  the  sense  clear,  but  in 
Heb.  the  whole  congregation  is  equated  with  those  who  returned. 
Theunexiled  Jews  whom  the  returned  exiles  found  in  the  home- 
land were  relatively  so  few  and  unimportant  as  to  be  ignored.  See 
on  Ezra  vi.  21. 

since  the  days  of  Jeshtia  the  son  of  ITun,  &c,  :  yet  we 
read  in  Ezra  iii.  4  of  a  celebration  of  the  feast  almost  immediately 
after  the  arrival  of  Zerubbabel.  There  are  several  ways  of  re- 
conciling what  upon  the  surface  and  without  prejudice  looks  like 
a  contradiction.  J.  D.  Mich.,  Klost.,  and  Sieg.  omit  the  son  of  Nun, 
identifying  this  Jeshua  then  with  the  well-known  high-priest  who 
shared  in  the  observance  of  Ezra  iii.  4.  All  the  versions,  however, 
have  these  words,  and  moreover  the  whole  clause  seems  based  on 
2  Kings  xxiii.  22.  Jeshua  bin-Nun  was  the  inaugurator  of  a  new 
era  just  as  was  Jeshua  the  companion  of  Zerubbabel,  and  was  not 
unlikely  to  be  mentioned. 

Others  (Bertheau,  &c.)  lay  great  stress  on  the  word  so,  taking  the 
clause  to  mean  that  in  such  a  itianmr  the  Israelites  had  not  ob- 
served this  feast  from  the  time  of  Jeshua  bin-Nun.  The  present 
writer  thinks  that  the  Heb.  words  *  had  not  done  so  '  mean  simply 
'had  not  kept  the  Feast,  had  not  done  what  had  been  described  ' — 
the  celebration  of  this  Feast.     It  is  better  to  see  in  the  two  ac- 


228  NEHEMIAH  8.  i8— 9.  i.     C^ 

8  very  great  gladness.  Also  day  by  day,  from  the  first  day 
unto  the  last  day,  he  read  in  the  book  of  the  law  of  God. 
And  they  kept  the  feast  seven  days  ;  and  on  the  eighth  day 
was  a  ^  solemn  assembly,  according  unto  the  ordinance. 

9  Now  in  the  twenty  and  fourth  day  of  this  month  the 

*  Or,  closing  festival 

counts  two  different  and  conflicting  traditions  handed  down  along 
different  channels.  The  writer  of  either  of  these  passages  had 
evidently  not  seen  the  other  passage.  Differences  and  even  con- 
tradictions like  these  make  the  record  of  facts  and  traditions  in 
Ezra-Nehemiah  the  more  valuable  and  trustworthy. 
gfladness  :  see  Lev.  xxiii.  40. 

18.  seven  days  :  so  Lev.  xxiii.  39 ;  Deut.  xvi.  13,  15. 

a  solemn  assembly :  this  is  no  part  of  the  Feast  proper,  as 
the  words  of  this  verse  imply  and  as  is  shown  by  Num.  xxix.  35  (P), 
where  the  sacrifices  for  the  day  bear  no  proportion  to  those  offered 
daily  during  the  seven  days  of  Tabernacles.  See  G.  B.  Gra)% 
Numbers,  402  ff.  ('A  scale  of  public  offerings').  This  eighth 
day  is  mentioned  in  Lev.  xxiii.  34,  39  (P  not  H)  ;  Num.  xxix.  35 
(late  P),  but  not  in  Deut.  (see  xvi.  13-15,  xxxi.  9-12),  nor  in  JE. 
See  I  Kings  viii.  65  f.  (where  the  older  law  is  implied)  and 
2  Chron.  vii.  8-10  (which  follows  P).  Opinion  is  divided  as  to 
whether  the  last  great  day  of  the  Feast  of  John  vii.  37  is  the  last 
(i.  e.  the  seventh  day)  of  the  Feast  proper  or  the  eighth  day,  the 
solemn  assembly.  But  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  is  the  seventh 
day  that  is  meant. 

IX. 

The  contents  of  this  chapter  follow  quite  naturally  upon  those 
of  that  which  precedes.  When  the  people  through  the  reading 
of  the  law  come  to  a  perception  of  the  wide  divergence  between 
their  lives  and  the  acknowledged  standard  one  might  expect  to  see 
the  demonstrations  of  grief  described  in  ch.  ix.  It  is  of  course 
assumed  that  the  mourning  and  weeping  of  viii.  9-1 1  and  of  the 
present  chapter  are  on  account  of  the  mixed  marriages  which  the 
reading  of  the  law  had  painted  in  the  darkest  colours.  During  the 
feasts  of  the  seventh  month  the  mourning  people  are  commended 
to  rejoice  in  accordance  with  the  custom  and  requirements  of  the 
festival  times  (viii.  9  ff ).  But  the  feast  of  the  month  is  past  and 
gone  (Tabernacles)  and  the  mourning  is  resumed  two  days  later 
(see  ver,  i). 

1-5.  Day  of  public  confession. 

1.  the  twenty  and  fourth  day  (of  Tishri)  :  this  would  be  two 
days  after  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles  had  come  to  a  close.  This 
verse  shows  that  chaps,   viii  and  ix  are  inseparably  connected. 


NEHEMIAH  9.  2,  3.     Ch  229 

children  of  Israel  were  assembled  with  fasting,  and  with 
sackcloth,  and  earth  upon  them.     And  the  seed  of  Israel  2 
separated  themselves  from  all  strangers,  and  stood  and 
confessed  their  sins,  and  the  iniquities  of  their  fathers. 
And  they  stood  up  in  their  place,  and  read  in  the  book  3 
of  the  law  of  the  Lord  their  God  a  fourth  part  of  the 

This  day  is  not  (with  Siegfried)  to  be  identified  with  the  Day  of 
Atonement  (see  Lev,  xvi,  xxii.  27-32  ;  Num.  xx.  7  ff.),  which  in 
later  times  was  observed  on  the  tenth  day  of  the  month,  but  which 
in  Ezra's  time  was  unknown. 

fasting-:  see  Ezra  viii.  21,  x.  6. 

sackcloth  :  a  sign  of  penitent  sorrow  (see  i  Chron.  xxi. 
16  ;  Jonah  iii.  5,  8;  Dan.  ix.  3)  :  see  on  Esther  iv.  r. 

earth  upon  them:  see  i  Sam.  iv.  12  ;  2  Sam.  i.  2,  xv.  32 ; 
Job  ii.  12. 

2.  the  seed:  a  comparison  with  Ezra  ix.  2  suggests  common 
authorship.  In  favour  of  authorship  by  Ezra  is  also  the  fact  that  the 
word  is  found  most  frequently  in  writing  about  the  time  of  the 
exile  (see  Isa.  xlv.  25  ;  cf.  ver.  19  ;  Jer.  xxxi.  36,  &c.). 

separated  themselves  :  i.  e.  for  the  united  act  of  confession 
and  prayer.  Keil  and  others  think  that  a  general  separation  from 
the  heathen  is  meant, 

strangers,  i.e.  non-Jews  :  another  Heb.  word  {ger),  generally 
translated  '  sojourners,'  means  non-Jews  who  have  settled  in  Jew- 
ish ten-itory  and  adopted  largely,  and  in  late  times  wholly,  the  reli- 
gion of  the  Jews.  Notwithstanding  what  is  recorded  in  Ezra  ix  f.  it 
seems  evident  that  non-Jews  joined  Jews  in  the  religious  assemblies 
of  the  latter  :  see  on  Ezra  iii.  3,  x,  2,  and  article  'Stranger'  in  SDB. 

the  iniquities  of  their  fathers:  see  remarks  on  verses  7-31. 

3.  they  stood  up  in  their  place  :  render,  '  they  arose  (so  the 
Heb.)  and  went  to  their  place,'  i.  e.  the  place  appointed  for  them 
(see  on  viii.  7). 

and  read :  who?  Not  the  people,  though  the  Heb,  allows  this. 
We  have  here  an  example  of  the  unnamed  ('  indefinite)  subject' 
so  common  in  Hebrew  which  is  better  rendered  into  English  by 
the  passive,  as  it  is  the  action  and  not  the  agent  that  is  in  question  : 
see  p.  103.  Here  the  Levites  must  be  understood  as  the  readers 
(see  viii.  3-8). 

hook  of  the  law,  &c.  :  see  on  viii.  i  ;  cf.  verses  4,  5,  7  of  the 
present  chapter  and  x,  29,  34. 

a  fourth  part  of  the  day  :  i.  e.  three  hours,  probably  from 
about  9a. m,  to  12  noon ,  the  other  three  hours  following  immediately 
upon  this.  The  whole  assembly  must  have  stood  throughout  the 
six  hours,  except  when  they  prostrated  themselves,  but  see  below 


^30  NEHEMIAH  9.  4,  5.     Ck 

day ;  and  another  fourth  part  they  confessed,  and  wor- 

4  shipped  the  Lord  their  God.  Then  stood  up  upon  the 
stairs  of  the  Levites,  Jeshua,  and  Bani,  Kadmiel,  She- 
baniah^  Bunni,  Sherebiah^  Bani^  and  Chenani,  and  cried 
with  a  loud  voice  unto  the  Lord  their  God.     Then  the 

5  Levites^  Jeshua,  and  Kadmiel,  Bani,  Hashabneiah,Shere- 
biah,  Hodiah,  Shebaniah,  and  Pethahiah,  said,  Stand  up 
and  bless  the  Lord  your  God  from  everlasting  to  ever- 
lasting:  and  ''^blessed  be  thy  glorious  name,  which  is 

*  Or,  let  them  bless 

confessed  :  see  on  Ezra  x.  2. 

worshipped  :  lit.  '  prostrated  themselves.'  The  verb  comes, 
however,  to  be  used  in  a  general  way  for  '  to  worship ',  whatever 
the  attitude. 

4  f.  The  two  hsts  in  these  two  verses  are  no  doubt  one  at 
bottom,  the  confusion  arising  through  the  carelessness  and  igno- 
rance of  copyists.  Four  of  the  names  occur  twice  (Jeshua, 
Kadmiel,  Bani,  Sherebiah).  Siegfried,  Torrey,  &c.,  say  that  the 
Chronicler  is  responsible  for  introducing  these  names.  If  so, 
one  wonders  that  he  did  not  do  his  work  better — unless  his  list 
has  suffered  from  transmission.  The  LXX  diverges  from  the 
Hebrew  considerably  in  these  lists  (see  below).  It  seems  evident 
that  the  names  stand  for  houses,  not  individuals  (cf.  Jeshua),  and 
we  are  to  think  of  each  house  as  represented  by  its  living  chief. 

4.  stairs  (of  the  Levites)  :  Heb.  *  high  place.*  It  is  the  wooden 
platform  of  viii.  3  that  must  be  meant, 

Bani :  the  double  occurrence  of  this  name  in  ver.  4  shows 
how  inaccurate  the  traditional  text  here  is.  We  should  probabl}' 
read  in  one  case  *  Binnu  '  (see  x.  9,  xii.  8).  The  LXX  translates 
Bani,  Binnui,  and  Bunni  as  if  all  v^ere  bene  {  —  sons  of),  so  reduc- 
ing the  number  from  eight  to  five. 

5.  Stand :  lit.,  '  arise.'  The  word  denotes  perhaps  merely  a 
summons  to  do  what  follows  (see  on  Ezra  x.  4),  though  it  may  bear 
its  literal  meaning  ;  see  on  ver.  3  ('worshipped  '). 

bless,  &c.  :  these  words  resemble  closely  Psalms  which 
have  come  down  to  us  (see  Ps.  xl.  i,  14,  Ixxii.  19,  cvi.  48,  and 
the  references  below).     See  further  on  verses  6-37. 

blessed  be  thy  g'lorious  name :  this  rendering  is  preferable 
to  that  of  the  margin  (see  on  ver.  3  (indefinite  subject  i). 

6-37.  Ezra's  confession  and  prayer  on  behalf  of  the  people.  Have 
we  in  this  a  veritable  psalm  of  Ezra's  time  and  by  Ezra  himself? 
Or  is  it  the  work  of  the  Chronicler  as  Torrey  and  others  hold  ? 


NEHEMIAH  9.  6.     Ce  231 

exalted  above  all  blessing  and  praise.    Thou  art  the  Lord,  6 
even  thou  alone ;  thou  hast  made  heaven,  the  heaven  of 
heavens,  with  all  their  host,  the  earth  and  all  things  that 
are  thereon,  the  seas  and  all  that  is  in  them,  and  thou 
preservest  them  all ;  and  the  host  of  heaven  worshippeth 

Unless  there  is  cogent  evidence  to  the  contrary  we  ought  to 
accept  i\\&  prima  facie  evidence  of  the  narrative.  It  is  remarkable 
that  although  this  song  makes  abundant  use  of  other  parts  of  the 
O.  T.  there  is  hardly  a  single  case  in  which  it  can  be  proved  that 
a  source  so  late  as  the  Chronicler,  or  even  as  the  Priestly  Code, 
has  been  consulted  (see  the  notes  below).  If  Ezra  or  Nehemiah  or 
a  contemporary  is  not  the  author  it  is  perfectly  clear  that  the 
Chronicler  is  not,  for  his  manner  does  not  show  itself  from  begin- 
ning to  end.  The  writer  is  most  of  all  influenced  by  the  Deutero- 
nomist,  and  this  agrees  with  a  time  between  the  dominance  of  the 
D  and  P  codes,  see  p.  18  f.  The  references  given  below  to  parallel 
passages  will  be  chiefly  to  parts  of  the  O.  T.  which  this  Psalmist 
seems  to  have  had  in  mind. 
6.  Invocation. 

We  ought,  with  the  LXX,  to  begin  this  verse  with  '  And  Ezra 
said.'  This  is  supported  by  a  comparison  with  Ezra  ix.  6-15. 
Under  the  priestly  influence  of  a  later  time  these  words  might 
well  have  been  omitted,  since  to  lead  in  prayer  and  confession  is 
the  prerogative  of  the  priest  alone  in  the  Pcode  (see  Lev.  xxi.  21). 

Thou  .  .  .  liOBD  .  .  .  alone:  cf  Ps.  Ixxx.  i8  and  Isa.  xliv.  6. 

thou  hast  made  :  not  created,  as  in  Gen,  i,  i,  ii.  i. 

heaven  (and)  the  heaven  of  heavens :  the  copula  *  and ' 
must  with  all  the  versions  be  inserted  (see  Deut.  x.  14).  The  ex- 
pression '  heaven  of  heavens'  is  a  Hebrew  superlative,  and  is  equi- 
valent to  <  the  highest  heaven.'  The  idea  of  a  plurality  of  heavens 
underlies  the  expression,  either  three  (see  a  Chron.  xii.  12)  or 
seven  (as  in  the  Talmud). 

preservest :  lit.  '  keepest  alive.' 
7-31.  A  rapid  survey  of  the  nation^ s past ;  its  siyis  and  its  mercies. 
With  this  survey  compare  Pss.  Ixxviii  (pre-exilic  or  exilic),  cvi, 
and  also  Pss.  cv,  cxl,  cxli,  though  the  three  last  speak  only  about 
God's  goodness  to  Israel  at  the  various  stages  of  the  nation's  history, 
nothing  in  them  being  said  of  the  nation's  sins.  This  section  has 
for  background,  as  Pss.  Ixxviii  and  cvi,  a  period  of  national  distress 
— they  may  all  be  the  product  of  the  same  set  of  events.  Here  at 
all  events  the  producing  circumstances  seem  to  be  the  opposition 
offered  to  the  restoration  of  Judaism  and  its  institutions  and  the 
galling  feelings  inseparable  from  bondage  to  an  alien  power. 
This  Psalm  and  that  in  Ezra  ix.  6-15  have  as  much  in  common 


232  NEHEMIAH  9. 


/J 


7  thee.  Thou  art  ^  the  Lord  the  God,  who  didst  choose 
Abram,    and  broughtest   him   forth   out   of  Ur  of  the 

8  Chaldees,  and  gavest  him  the  name  of  Abraham ;  and 
foundest  his  heart  faithful  before  thee,  and  madest  a 
covenant  with  him  to  give  the  land  of  the  Canaanite,  the 
Hittite,  the  Amorite^and  the  Perizzite,  and  the  Jebusite, 

"  Or,  O  Lord 

as  common  authorship  justifies  us  in  expecting,  but  the  differences 
are  sufficient  to  prove  that  they  were  uttered  on  different  occasions. 

To  the  modern  mind  it  seems  passing  strange  to  find  in  this 
Psalm,  in  Ezra  ix.  6-15,  and  in  many  Psalms  in  the  Psalter,  one 
generation  of  men  apologizing  to  God  for  the  sins  of  their  fore- 
fathers who  lived  hundreds  of  years  before,  and  seeking  Divine 
pardon  for  these  sins.  But  to  the  people  of  these  times  there  is  no 
incongruity  in  all  this,  for  the  individual  was  lost  in  the  nation,  and 
whatever  merit  or  demerit  attached  to  the  latter  belonged  as  well 
to  the  separate  members  of  the  nation.  We  have  a  modification 
of  the  same  thought  (the  solidarity  of  the  race)  in  the  old  doctrine 
of  original  sin. 

7  f.  God's  covenant  w/fh  Abraham,  and  through  him  with  the  nation. 

7.  who  didst  choose  Abram:  in  Deut.  vii.  8  and  x.  15  God 
is  said  to  choose  Israel  because  He  loved  their  ancestors.  In  the 
present  passage  God  is  said  to  choose  Abram. 

XJrof  the  Chaldees:  see  Gen.  xv.  7  (E)  ;  cf.  Gen.  xi.  25,  31. 
gavest  him  the  name  of  Abraham :  see  Gen.  xvii.  5  (P ;  J 
must  also  have  had  this). 

8.  (found  his  heart)  faithful,  i.  e.  believing  (see  Gen.  xv.  6  (JE)  ; 
cf,  Ps.  xxviii.  8  ;  i  Sam.  iii.  20  ;  Gal.  iii.  9). 

madest  a  covenant  with  him  :  see  Gen.  xv.  18-21  (JE)  and 
cf.  Gen.  xvii.  2  ff.  (P). 

the  Canaanite,  &c. :  this  list  is  abridged  from  Gen.  xv. 
19-21  (JE)orfrom  Deut.  vii.  i.  On  Canaanite  and  Amorite  see  on 
Ezra  ix.  i.  Amorites  and  Canaanites  represent  the  two  most  im- 
portant ethnic  elements  in  the  pre-Israelitish  population  of  Pales- 
tine, and  originally  no  other  native  races  seemed  to  have  been  men- 
tioned, but  later  writers  swelled  the  list  for  didactic  purposes, 
magnifying  the  conquest  which  God  enabled  the  nation  to  achieve. 
If  the  literal  meaning  of  such  lists  is  pressed  it  must  be  admitted 
that  the  longest  of  them  (i  Gen.  xv.  19-21)  is  very  incomplete, 
as  it  embraces  only  tribes  west  of  the  Jordan  and  south  of  the 
upper  reaches  of  that  river. 

Hittite  :  ver^'  important  remains  of  the  civilization  of  this  peo- 
ple have  been  found  in  recent  years  in  Asia  Minor  and  elsewhere, 
proving  that  at  one  time  they  were  numerous  and  powerful  enough 


NEHEMIAH  9.  9-13.     C„  233 

and  the  Girgashite,  even  to  give  it  unto  his  seed,  and 
hast  performed  thy  words  ;  for  thou  art  righteous.     And  9 
thou  sawest  the  affliction  of  our  fathers  in  Egypt,  and 
heardest  their  cry  by  the  Red  Sea ;  and  shewedst  signs  10 
and  wonders  upon  Pharaoh,  and  on  all  his  servants,  and 
on  all  the  people  of  his  land ;  for  thou  knewest  that  they 
dealt  proudly  against  them ;  and  didst  get  thee  a  name, 
as  it  is  this  day.     And  thou  didst  divide  the  sea  before  n 
them,  so  that  they  went  through  the  midst  of  the  sea  on 
the  dry  land ;  and  their  pursuers  thou  didst  cast  into  the 
depths,  as  a  stone  into  the  mighty  waters.      Moreover  12 
thou  leddest  them  in  a  pillar  of  cloud  by  day ;  and  in  a 
pillar   of  fire  by  night,  to  give  them   light  in  the   way 
wherein  they  should  go.     Thou  camest  down  also  upon  13 
mount  Sinai,  and  spakest  with  them  from  heaven,  and 

to    contest  the  supremacy  of  Western   Asia  with  Assyria  :   see 
A.  H.  Sayce,  The  Hittites. 

Jebusite:  G.  A.  Smith  denies  that  there  ever  was  a  city 
called  Jebus  (=  Jerusalem,  or  a  part  of  iti  :  the  existence  of 
a  city  of  that  name  being  inferred  from  the  tribal  name. 

for  thou  art  rig-liteous  :  because  thou  hast  kept  Thy  promise 
(see  Deut.  xxxii.  4). 

9-1 1.  In  Egypt  and  the  deliverance  otit  of  it.  The  long  interval 
between  Abraham  and  the  settlement  in  Egypt  is  passed  over  in 
silence. 

9.  thou  sawest,  &c.  :    see  Exod.  iii.  7  (J).     Cf.  Exod,  xiv.  10 

(J) ;  XV.  4. 

10.  and  shewedst  signs :  see  Deut.  vi.  22. 

dealt  proudly:  see  Exod.  xviii.  11  (J),  xvi.  14  (E)  ;  Deut.  i. 
43,  xvii.  13. 

didst  get  thee  a  name  :  see  Exod.  ix.  16  (J)  ;  cf.  Isa.  Ixiii. 
12  ;  Jer.  xxxii.  20.  as  it  is  this  day:  see  Jer.  xliv.  2. 

11.  thou  didst  divide,  &c. :   see  Exod.  xv,  4  (J). 
12-21.  In  the  wilderness. 

12.  pillar  of  cloud  .  .  .  pillar  of  fire  :  see  ver.  19  and  Exod.  xiii. 
2  f.  (J)  ;   Num.  xiv.  14  (JE) ;   Deut.  i.  33  ;  cf.  Ps.  Ixxviii.  14,  cv.  39. 

13.  See  Exod.  xix.  18,  20. 

Sinai  (J,  P)  and  Horeb  (E,  D'  are  simply  different  names  in 
different  sources  for  the  same  mountain.  The  old  view  is  that 
Horeb  was  the  name  of  the  group  or  range  and  Sinai  that  of  one 


234  NEHEMIAH  9.  14.     C^ 

gavest  them  right  judgements  and  true  laws,  good  statutes 

14  and  commandments  :  and  madest  known  unto  them  thy 

holy  sabbath,  and  commandedst  them  commandments, 

of  the  mountains  in  it;  but  biblical  usage  is  against  any  distinction 
being  made. 

Jndgrements  :  better  'ordinances  ' :  see  on  i.  7. 
true  laws  :  Heb.  '  laws  of  faithfulness,'  i.  e.  laws  in  harmony 
with  God's  revealed  purpose  to  do  good  to  His  people  :  not 
capricious,  much  less  inimical.  We  are  not  sharply  to  differ- 
entiate the  terms  grouped  in  this  verse  for  the  Divine  legislation ; 
they  stand  rather  for  different  aspects  of  the  same  thing,  just  as  in 
Ps.  cxix  (see  Introd.  to,  Century  Bible)  the  Divine  word  is  expressed 
in  each  stanza  by  eight  terms  indicative  of  as  many  view-points. 

14.  holy  sabbath :  the  epithet  '  holy '  seems  to  imply  that 
this  institution  was  now  regarded  as  a  religious  one  (see  below). 
We  have  in  this  verse  what  is  probably  the  earliest  post-exilic 
reference  to  the  Sabbath — the  allusions  in  Ezekiel  (xx.  12,  20, 
&c.)  belonging  to  the  exile  itself.  In  pre-exilic  times  the 
references  seem  to  show  that  the  Sabbath  was  a  rest  day  for 
man  and  for  beast,  a  day  for  relaxation  and  recreation,  and  not 
directly  intended  for  worship  or  religious  work  :  see  Exod.  xxiii. 
12  (JE~,  xxxiv.  21  (J)  ;  Deut.  V.  12-15  ;  Amos  viii.  4  ;  Hos.  ii.  11. 
It  was  during  the  exile,  when  the  great  feasts  could  not  be  kept 
owing  to  separation  from  the  Temple,  that  the  Sabbath  came  to  be 
set  apart  as  a  day  for  the  studying  of  the  Scripture  and  for  sacred 
song  and  prayer.  The  above  is,  however,  an  a  priori  conc\us\on, 
but  it  is  almost  certainly  in  accordance  with  the  facts.  After  the 
return,  when  the  Sabbath  does  loom  into  view,  it  is,  as  here, 
a  '  holy '  day ;  yet  for  some  time  after  the  return,  and  in  some 
circles  during  the  exile,  this  day  does  not  seem  to  have  com- 
manded much,  if  any,  notice.  It  is  not  once  spoken  of  in  Isaiah, 
not  even  in  the  second  part,  except  in  passages  assigned  to  the 
time  of  Nehemiah  (Ivi.  2,  Iviii.  13  f.).  There  is  not  a  word  about 
it  in  Haggai,  Zechariah,  Ezra,  Psalms,  Proverbs,  or  Job,  or  even 
Genesis,  except  in  the  account  of  its  institution,  which  is  late  (P). 
Ezra  recognizes  its  claims  in  the  present  passage,  though  in  no 
other  extant  words  of  his,  and  Nehemiah  made  its  observance 
a  matter  of  great  consequence  :  see  Neh.  xiii.  13-21,  with  which 
must  go  Isa.  Iviii.  13  f.  and  Jer.  xvii.  19-21,  as  of  the  same 
period  and  even  movement. 

In  the  P  code  and  connected  parts  of  the  O.T.  the  Sabbath  is 
a  religious  institution  (see  Exod.  xxxi.  ia-17  (P);  Num.  xxviii. 
gf.).  It  is  quite  cle^ar  that  the  Israelitish  Sabbath  is  not  a  replica 
of  the  Babylonian  Sadattu,  if  even  the  two  had  at  all  any  genitic 
connexion.     The  Babylonian  institution  was  a  religious  one  from 


NEHEMIAH  9.  15-17.  Cg  235 

and  statutes,  and  a  law,  by  the  hand  of  Moses  thy  servant : 
and  gavest  them  bread  from  heaven  for  their  hunger,  and  1 5 
broughtest  forth  water  for  them  out  of  the  rock  for  their 
thirst,  and  commandedst  them  that  they  should  go  in  to 
possess  the  land  which  thou  hadst  lifted  up  thine  hand 
to  give  them.  But  they  and  our  fathers  dealt  proudly,  16 
and  hardened  their  neck,  and  hearkened  not  to  thy  com- 
mandments, and  refused  to  obey,  neither  were  mindful  17 

the  first ;  the  Sabbath  became  that  only  after  the  exile — a  proof 
that  the  influence  of  Babylon  was  exerted,  if  at  all,  in  post-exilic 
times  onl3'.  The  Babylonian  term  ^abattu  was  applied  to  the 
fifteenth  of  the  month  only,  and  was  identical,  at  least  originally, 
with  the  Full  Moon  Festival^.  The  7th,  14th,  19th,  21st  and  28th 
days  of  the  month  in  the  Babylonian  calendar  were  unlucky  daj'S 
{ukhulgal)  for  certain  acts,  not  rest  or  sacred  days  at  alP.  See 
Meinhold,  Sabbat  und  Woche,  1905 ;  A.  R.  Gordan,  The  Early 
Traditions  of  Genesis,  216  ff.,  1907,  and  review  by  the  present 
writer  in  Review  of  Theology  and  Philosophy,  vol.  iii,  p.  689  fF. 

conunandments  :  see  on  ver.  13  and  cf.  i.  7  and  Ezra  vii.  11 
for  similar  combinations  of  synonyms. 

15.  bread  from  heaven  :  see  Exod.  xvi.  4  (JE)  ;  cf.  Ps.  cv.  40. 
In  Ps.  Ixxviii.  25  it  is  called  (in  a  corrected  text)  'the  bread  of 
angels  '  :  see  on  ver.  20  (*  manna  ').  As  regards  the  hunger  and 
thirst  of  the  people  see  Deut.  xxviii.  48. 

g-o  in  to  possess  :   see  Deut.  ix.  5. 

lifted  up  thine  hand:  i.e.  (as  in  A.V.)  'sworn,'  here  an 
anthropomorphism,  for  the  idiom  (common  in  many  languages) 
rests  on  the  custom  still  widely  prevalent  (as  in  Scotland)  of 
pointing  to  Deity  as  witness  when  an  oath  is  taken  :  see  Exod. 
vi.  8,  &c.  ;  Num.  xiv.  28  f.,  33.  For  the  existence  of  the  practice 
in  Africa  see  Johnstone,  Journal  Anthrop.  Institute,  xxxii,  p.  264. 

16.  (they)  and  (our  fathers):  render  'even';  it  is  the 
explicative  conjunction  waw,  corresponding  to  a  similar  use  of 
the  Greek  Ka'i  and  the  Latin  et. 

dealt  proudly  :  see  on  ver.  lo. 

hardened  their  neck :  as  animals  refusing  to  bear  the  yoke  : 
see  verses  17,  29  and  Deut.  x.  16  ;  Jer.  vii,  26.     Cf.  Exod.  xxxii.  9. 

17.  refused  to  obey :  see  Jer.  iv,  6.  Note  the  heaped-up 
charges  in  this  verse. 

^  See  Pinches,  PSBA.,  1904,  51  ff.  ;  Zimmern,  KATS^\  592; 
ZDMG.,  1904,  200  ff.,  458  ff. ;  Benzinger,  ArchS'^\  338  ff. ;  C.  H.  W. 
Johns,  Expositor,  1906,  ii.  433  ;  Driver,  Genesis,  34  f. 


236  NEHEMIAH  9.  18-20.     Ce 

of  thy  wonders  that  thou  didst  among  them ;  but  hardened 
their  neck,  ^  and  in  their  rebelHon  appointed  a  captain  to 
return  to  their  bondage:  but  thou  art  ^a  God  ready  to 
pardon,  gracious  and  full  of  compassion,  slow  to  anger, 

18  and  plenteous  in  mercy,  and  forsookest  them  not.  Yea, 
when  they  had  made  them  a  molten  calf,  and  said,  This 
is  thy  God  that  brought  thee  up  out  of  Egypt,  and  had 

19  wrought  great  provocations ;  yet  thou  in  thy  manifold 
mercies  forsookest  them  not  in  the  wilderness  :  the  pillar 
of  cloud  departed  not  from  over  them  by  day,  to  lead 
them  in  the  way ;  neither  the  pillar  of  fire  by  night,  to 
shew  them  light,  and  the  way  wherein  they  should  go. 

20  Thou  gavest  also  thy  good  spirit  to  instruct  them,  and 

*  The  Sept.  has,  and  appointed  a  captain  to  return  to  their  bondage 
in  Egypt.     See  Num.  xiv.  4.  ^  Heb.  a  God  of  forgivenesses. 

wonders:  Heb.  'outstanding  acts,'  used  especially  for  what 
God  did  for  His  people,  whether  in  nature  or  in  history  ;  see  Exod. 
iii.  20  (J),  &c.  The  word  is  very  common  in  the  Psalms,  but, 
though  common  also  in  JE,  it  is  absent  from  P. 

and  in  their  rebellion,  &c.  :  render  (see  R.Vm.),  'and 
appointed  a  head  (or  leader),  so  that  (under  his  leadership)  they 
might  return  to  their  bondage  in  Egypt.'  No  change  in  the  text 
is  necessary  for  the  above  translation  except  a  trivial  one  on 
a  single  Hebrew  word. 

appointed  a  captain  (lit.,  '  a  head')  :  so  the  Greek  versions 
(though  different  Greek  words  are  used  in  Luc.  and  LXX).  Haupt, 
following  an  Assyrian  idiom,  renders  '  they  made  head,'  i.  e.  'they 
resisted.'  This,  however,  is  not  Hebrew.  Bertheau  and  Stade 
render  '  they  turned  their  head  '  ('  to  return,'  &c.). 

their  bondage  :  see  on  Ezra  ix.  9. 

a  God  ready  to  pardon:  cf.  Dan.  ix.  9,  which  seems  to 
depend  on  the  present  passage  as  being  the  older. 

For  the  epithets  applied  in  this  verse  to  God  see  reference  Bibles. 

18.  See  Exod.  xxxii.  4  (E),  8  (JE). 

wrong-ht  great  provocations  :  the  Hebrew  means  '  they 
exhibited  great  contempt '  (for  God).  The  noun  occurs  besides 
only  in  ver.  26  and  in  Ezek.  xxxv.  12. 

19.  to    shew   them   light,  and  the  way  :    render  (omitting 
with  the  versions  'and  '),  'to  show  them  light  in  the  way,'  &c. 

20.  thy  good  spirit:  see  Num.  xi.  17,  23-29  (E)  ;  cf.  Ps.  cxliii. 
10 ;  Isa,  Ixi.  11. 


NEHEMIAH  9.  21-23.     Ce  237 

withheldest  not  thy  manna  from  their  mouth,  and  gavest 
them  water  for  their  thirst.     Yea,  forty  years  didst  thou  31 
sustain  them  in  the  wilderness,  a7id  they  lacked  nothing ; 
their  clothes  waxed  not  old,  and  their  feet  swelled  not. 
Moreover  thou  gavest  them  kingdoms  and  peoples,  »  which  22 
thou  didst  allot  after  their  portions  :  so  they  possessed 
the  land  of  Sihon,  even  the  land  of  the  king  of  Heshbon, 
and  the  land  of  Og  king  of  Bashan.     Their  children  also  23 
multipliedst  thou  as  the  stars  of  heaven,  and  broughtest 
them  into  the  land,  concerning  which  thou  didst  say  to 
*  Or,  and  didst  distribute  them  into  every  corner 

manna  :  see  on  ver.  15.  What  is  here  said  of  the  supply  of 
manna  and  water  has  its  source  in  Num.  xi.  6-9  (JE),  not  as 
ver.  15  in  Exod.  xvi.  4  (JE) :  see  Ps.  Ixxviii.  17  ff,,  where 
the  same  two  sources  seem  combined.  Exod.  xvi.  25  gives 
a  popular  etymology  of  the  word  manna  (^what  is  it'), 
which  Semitic  philology  shows  to  be  incorrect.  The  manna  of 
Scripture  is  generally  identified  with  those  thick  drops  which  in 
May  and  June  exude  of  nights  from  the  tamarisk  tree  through 
punctures  caused  by  insects.  They  are  gathered  by  the  Bedouin 
Arabs  of  the  Sinaitic  Peninsula  and  greatly  relished.  Another 
view  is  that  a  kind  of  stone  lichen  largely  eaten  by  Arabs  is  the 
original  manna.  In  any  case  here,  as  in  Exod.  xvi,  Num.  xi, 
Ps.  Ixxviii.  24,  and  John  vi.  31,  manna  is  regarded  as  due  to 
a  special  act  on  God's  part,  and  something  in  the  circumstances 
under  which  the  wilderness  manna  was  supplied  may  have  made 
the  supply  really  miraculous. 

21.  See  Deut.  ii.  7,  viii.  4,  xxix.  4. 

(their  feet)  swelled  not :  rendered  *  blistered  not '  (through 
walking). 

22-25.    "^^^  Conquest  of  Canaan. 

22.  after  their  portions:  Heb.,  ^  according  to  a  corner'  (Lev. 
xix.  17,  27),  or  *  according  to  a  portion  '  ('corner')  of  territory 
(only  in  Num.  xxiv.  17,  and  then  doubtfully).  Better  with  LXX, 
Vulg.  omit  the  clause  :  it  is  perhaps  a  dittograph  of  the  last  part 
of  the  preceding  words.  Luc,  and  Syr.  give  quite  different 
renderings  from  each  other  and  from  that  of  the  E.VV. 

possessed:  see  Deut.  i.  21. 

even  tlie  land  of:  omit  (with  LXX,  Vulg.)  ;  it  is  an  obvious 
dittograph,  the  same  word  written  twice  by  mistake.  The 
obviousness  of  this  is  seen  in  the  Hebrew  only. 

23.  See  Gen.  xxii.  17  (JE) ;  Deut.  i.  10. 


238  NEHEMIAH  9.  24-27.     C,, 

24  their  fathers,  that  they  should  go  in  to  possess  it.  So  the 
children  went  in  and  possessed  the  land,  and  thou  sub- 
duedst  before  them  the  inhabitants  of  the  land,  the 
Canaanites,  and  gavest  them  into  their  hands,  with  their 
kings,  and  the  peoples  of  the  land,  that  they  might  do 

25  with  them  as  they  would.  And  they  took  fenced  cities, 
and  a  fat  land,  and  possessed  houses  full  of  all  good 
things,  cisterns  hewn  out,  vineyards,  and  oliveyards, 
and  fruit  trees  in  abundance :  so  they  did  eat,  and  were 
filled,  and  became  fat,  and  delighted  themselves  in  thy 

26  great  goodness.  Nevertheless  they  were  disobedient,  and 
rebelled  against  thee,  and  cast  thy  law  behind  their  back, 
and  slew  thy  prophets  which  testified  against  them  to 
turn  them  again  unto  thee,  and  they  wrought  great  pro- 

37  vocations.  Therefore  thou  deliveredst  them  into  the  hand 

24.  Begin  this  verse  with  and  thou  subduedst,  &c.,  the  pre- 
ceding words  (absent  from  the  LXX)  anticipating  unnecessarily 
what  follows. 

thou  subduedst  .  .  .  the  Canaanites.  There  is  a  word-play 
in  the  Hebrew  which  in  English  is  lost,  the  noun  and  verb  having 
the  same  root  letters,  as  if  in  English  one  said  '  he  subjected  the 
subjects'  (of  the  German  Emperor). 

25.  See  Deut.  vi.  10  f,  viii.  7-9. 

became  fat  (i.  e.  sensuous)  :  see  Deut.  xxxii.  15. 
26-29.   Period  of  the  Judges. 

26.  they  were  disobedient:  the  Hebrew  verb  (=  to  be 
i-efractory)  is  quite  common  in  Deuteronomy  (see  ix.  7,  24,  &c.). 

cast  thy  law  behind  their  back  :  see  i  Kings  xiv.  9 ;  Ezek. 
xxiii.  35. 

slew  thy  prophets:  see  i  Kings  xviii.  4,  13,  xix.  10; 
2  Chron.  xxiv.  20  f.  ;  Matt.  v.  12,  xxiii.  29  ff.  ;  Luke  xi.  47,  xiii. 
33  ff.  ;  Acts  vii.  32  ;   i  Thess.  ii.  15  ;  Heb.  xi.  32  f. 

which  testified,  &c.  :  a  favourite  expression  of  D  and  his 
school  (see  Deut.  iv.  26,  &c.);  never  found  in  P  or  his  circle 
(Chronicles,  &c.). 

provocations  :  see  on  ver.  18. 
37  f.  Here  we  have  the  recurring  pragmatism  of  Judges— sins, 
repentance,  deliverance — repeated   in    that    order    (see   Judges 5 
ii.  iiflf.). 


NEHEMIAH  9.  28-30.     C,,  239 

of  their  adversaries,  who  distressed  them  :  and  in  the 
time  of  their  trouble,  when  they  cried  unto  thee,  thou 
heardest  from  heaven ;  and  according  to  thy  manifold 
mercies  thou  gavest  them  saviours  who  saved  them  out 
of  the  hand  of  their  adversaries.  But  after  they  had  28 
rest,  they  did  evil  again  before  thee :  therefore  leftest 
thou  them  in  the  hand  of  their  enemies,  so  that  they  had 
the  dominion  over  them  :  yet  when  they  returned,  and 
cried  unto  thee,  thou  heardest  from  heaven  ;  and  many 
times  didst  thou  deliver  them  according  to  thy  mercies ; 
and  testifiedst  against  them,  that  thou  mightest  bring  29 
them  again  unto  thy  law :  yet  they  dealt  proudly, 
and  hearkened  not  unto  thy  commandments,  but  sinned 
against  thy  judgements,  (which  if  a  man  do,  he  shall  live 
in  them,)  and  '''withdrew  the  shoulder,  and  hardened  their 
neck,  and  would  not  hear.  Yet  many  years  didst  thou  30 
bear  with  them,  and  testifiedst  against  them  by  thy  spirit 

*  Heb.  they  gave  a  shibborn  shoulder. 

27.  adversaries  .  .  .  distressed  .  .  .  trouble  :  the  Hebrew 
basis  in  all  these  words  is  identical,  so  that  the  Hebrew  exhibits 
a  play  on  words  which  in  a  translation  is  missed  ;  cf.  *  adversaries 
.  .  .  treated  adversely  .  .  .  adverse  (circumstances).' 

saviours  :  the  Hebrew  word  (the  root  of  which  is  found 
in  *  Joshua, 'or  'Jesus')  stands  here  for  the  judges,  as  in  Judges 
iii.  9,  15,  &c. ;  cf.  Judges  ii.  16  for  the  corresponding  verb 
('delivered  '\ 

28.  when  they  returned  and  cried :  render  (in  accordance 
with  Heb.  idiom),  'when  they  again  cried.' 

29.  commandments  , .  .  judgrements  :  see  on  i.  7. 
30  f.  Period  of  the  prophets. 

30.  didst  thou  hear  with  them :  render,  '  didst  thou  con- 
tinue to  be  kind  to  them.'  The  Hebrew  verb^  '  to  draw  out,'  'to 
extend,'  and  with  the  r.oun  denoting  *  kindness '  understood, 
means  as  above.  We  have  the  full  phrase  in  Ps.  xxxvi.  10  and 
cix.  12,  and  in  Jer.  xxxi.  3. 

testifiedst :  see  on  ver.  26. 

by  thy  spirit :  see  Zech.  vii.  12  and  cf.  a  Chron.  xxiv.  19  f., 
xxxvi.  28  ;  2  Pet.  i.  2i. 


240  NEHEMIAH  9.  31-34.     ^e 

through  thy  prophets :  yet  would  they  not  give  ear  :  there- 
fore gavest  thou  them  into  the  hand  of  the  peoples  of  the 

31  lands.  Nevertheless  in  thy  manifold  mercies  thou  didst 
not  make  a  full  end  of  them,  nor  forsake  them ;  for  thou 

32  art  a  gracious  and  merciful  God.  Now  therefore,  our 
God,  the  great,  the  mighty,  and  the  terrible  God,  who 
keepest  covenant  and  mercy,  let  not  all  the  travail  seem 
little  before  thee,  that  hath  come  upon  us,  on  our  kings, 
on  our  princes,  and  on  our  priests,  and  on  our  prophets, 
and  on  our  fathers,  and  on  all  thy  people,  since  the  time 

33  of  the  kings  of  Assyria  unto  this  day.  Howbeit  thou 
art  just  in  all  that  is  come  upon  us ;  for  thou  hast  dealt 

34  truly,  but  we  have  done  wickedly:  neither  have  our  kings, 
our  princes,  our  priests,  nor  our  fathers,  kept  thy  law, 

haud  :  often  in  the  O.  T.  =• '  power.' 

peoples  of  tlie  lands:  see  on  Ezra  iv.  4,  ix.  i. 

31.  thou:  the  Greek  versions  seem  to  have  followed  a  text 
in  which  the  Hebrew  pronoun  is  for  emphasis  separately  ex- 
pressed as  well  as  implied  in  the  verb  :  *  thou,  (even)  thou  didst 
not  make.'     Guthe  and  Bertholet  adopt  this. 

didst  not  make  a  full  end:  see  Jer.  iv.  27,  v.  10,  18  ;  Ezek. 
xi.  13,  XX.  17. 

32-37.  Prayer  that  God  may  avert  the  punishment  which  the 
nation  so  richly  deserves. 

32.  our  God,  the  great,  &;c.  :  see  on  i.  5. 

travail :  the  Hebrew  word  has  in  it  especially  the  idea  of 
weariness  :  see  Exod,  xviii.  8,  &c. 

princes:  see  on  Ezra  ix.  i.  The  Hebrew  word  here  is  that 
used  by  Ezra,  not  that  common  in  Nehemiah  (see  on  Neh.  ii.  16). 

since  the  time  of  the  kings  of  Assyria :  see  on  Ezra  ix.  7 
and  cf.  2  Kings  xv.  29,  xvii.  23. 

33.  just :  see  on  Ezra  ix.  15.  Note  the  ethical  standard  by 
which  God  and  man  are  equally  judged.  The  blame  for  Israel's 
suffering  is  on  Israel,  not  on  God.  Whence  came  so  lofty  a  con- 
ception of  Deity  to  this  simple  people  ? 

(hast  dealt)  truly:  'faithfully'  would  better  convey  the 
'sense  of  the  Hebrew.  GxDd  has  not  departed  from  the  word 
He  has  spoken 

34.  kept  (lit.  '  done  ')  thy  law :  the  Hebrew  expression  occurs 
here  only. 


NEHEMIAH  9.  35-37-     ^  241 

nor  hearkened  unto  thy  commandments  and  thy  testi- 
monies, wherewith  thou  didst  testify  against  them.     For  35 
they  have  not  served  thee  in  their  kingdom,  and  in  thy 
great  goodness  that  thou  gavest  them,  and  in  the  large 
and  fat  land  which  thou  gavest  before  them,  neither  turned 
they  from  their  wicked  works.     Behold,  we  are  servants  36 
this  day,  and  as  for  the  land  that  thou  gavest  unto  our 
fathers  to  eat  the  fruit  thereof  and  the  good  thereof, 
behold,  we  are  servants  in  it.     And  it  yieldeth  much  in-  37 
crease  unto  the  kings  whom  thou  hast  set  over  us  because 
of  our  sins :  also  they  have  power  over  our  bodies,  and 


nor  hearkened,  &c.  :  a  Deuteronomic  expression  :  see  Deut. 
xxxii.  16  ;  2  Kings  xvii.  5. 

thy  testimonies,  &c. :  render,  '  thy  solemn  admonitions 
wherewith  thou  didst  solemnly  admonish  them.'  The  Hebrew 
noun  denotes  strictly  *  a  warning  given  in  the  presence  of  wit- 
nesses.' It  is  one  of  the  eight  synonyms  for  '  the  word  of  God '  in 
Ps.  cxix  (see  Introd.  to  in  Century  Bible).  The  phrase  found  here 
occurs  besides  in  the  Psalms  and  almost  exclusively  in  Deuteronomy. 

35.  they  :  in  Hebrew  this  pronoun  is  emphatic,  the  reference 
being  to  the  kings  and  princes  in  contradistinction  to  the  '  thou' 
and  '  we '  of  ver.  33. 

in  their  kingrdom :  i.  e.  in  the  time  when  they  had  an  inde- 
pendent kingdom  in  contrast  to  the  state  of  things  now  prevailing, 
see  ver.  36. 

goodness  :  see  ver.  25. 

wicked  works:  see  Zech.  i.  4. 

36.  servants :  the  same  Hebrew  word  is  rendered  '  bond- 
men' in  Ezra  ix.  9  (see  on). 

the  land,  &c.  :  they  are  now  servants  in  the  land  which 
God  gave  to  them  and  in  which,  if  they  had  served  God,  they 
would  have  been  still  masters. 

37.  it  yieldeth  much  increase  in  the  way  of  taxation  to  the 
Persian  kingdom.  The  Hebrew  noun  (  = '  increase  ')  denotes  often 
'land  produce'  (Lev.  xxv.  22,  &c.). 

(unto)  the  kings:  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  had  both  been  com- 
missioned by  one  of  them  to  return  to  their  native  home  to  restore 
Jewish  religious  institutions. 

because  of  our  sins  :  our  subjection  to  others  is  but  the  fruit 
of  our  refusing  to  subject  ourselves  to  Thy  will. 

our  bodies  =>= '  our  persons '  (according  to  Semitic  usage).     If 

R  2 


242  NEHEMIAH  9.  37-     C^ 

over  our  cattle,  at  their  pleasure,  and  we  are  in  great 

we  do  not  pay  our  taxes  they  can  compel  us  to  pay  off  our  debt  in 
service  (agricultural,  military). 

our  cattle  :  '  or  they  will  distrain  upon  our  cattle.' 
at  their  pleasure  :  Oriental  taxation  is  very  much  what  the 
ruler  or  tax-collector  wishes  it  to  be. 

The  prayer  ends  abruptly  in  the  M.T.^  and  it  seems  quite 
evident  that  in  the  original  draft  there  was  a  petition  that  God 
might  deliver  tiiem  out  of  their  present  distress,  or  at  least  some 
suitable  ending.  We  should  not,  however,  be  too  confident  in 
imposing  modern  literary  canons  on  ancient  literature. 

IX.  38-X.  There  has  been  much  discussion  as  to  the  position 
of  chapter  x  (including  always  the  last  verse  of  the  preceding 
chapter)  in  the  Book  of  Nehemiah.  Of  late  years  the  majority  of 
recognized  O.T.  scholars  agree  that  Neh.  vii.  73'^-x  belongs  to  the 
history  of  Ezra  and  his  work,  and  ought  to  have  been  added  to  the 
book  called  'Ezra'  or  incorporated  into  it.  So  Ewald,  Well- 
hausen,  Schrader,  Klostermann,  Baudissin,  Budde,  Ryssel,  Bertho- 
let.  But  there  has  been  an  inclination  on  the  part  of  some  scholars 
to  separate  ch.  x  and  vii.  73^-ix,  as  is  done  by  Kosters  (who  claims 
that  the  events  of  ch.  x  followed  those  of  ch.  xiii%  by  Winckler, 
and  by  Bertholet  (who,  ascribing  vii.  73'^-ix  to  the  Ezra  memoirs, 
holds  that  ch.  x  belongs  to  the  Nehemiah  memoirs\  The  prin- 
cipal reasons  put  forward  by  Bertholet  for  his  view  are  these  ^  : — 

r.  Ch.  ix  does  not  come  to  a  complete  end,  so  that  in  any  case 
there  is  a  break  in  the  connexion  of  events  (see  on  ix.  37). 

2.  In  viii.  i-ix.  5  it  is  the  third  person  that  is  used  (leaving  out 
of  account  the  prayer  in  ix.  6-37,  which  is— Bertholet  thinks — no 
original  part  of  the  section  (but  why  not  ?)).  In  ch.  x,  on  the  con- 
trary, the  first  person  reappears.  It  may  be  said  in  reply  that  in 
viii-ix.  5  we  have  a  narrative  of  Ezra's  doings,  in  which  the  third 
person  is  very  suitably  employed  ;  whereas  in  ch.  x  we  have  a 
verbatim  copy  of  the  obligation  entered  into.  Moreover,  we  find 
the  first  person  in  ix.  32-37,  which  cannot  be  so  lightly  set  aside 
as  an  interpolation  as  is  done  by  this  writer. 

3.  At  the  head  of  the  signatories  in  x.  i  ff.  is  the  name  of  Nehe- 
miah, whereas  Ezra  is  not  mentioned  from  the  beginning  of  that 
chapter  to  its  close. 

But  most  scholars,  including  Bertholet,  admit  that  the  name 
Nehemiah  is  a  late  insertion  in  viii.  9,  and  there  is  very  good 
reason  for  so  regarding  it  in  x.  i.  Following  his  name  is  that  of 
Zedekiah,  of  whom  we  know  nothing  at  all  unless  he  was  the 
king  of  that  name. 

'  See  Commentary ,  p.  js  f. 


NEHEMIAH  9.     Cg  243 

It  is,  moreover,  likely  that  the  names  in  x.  2-9  stand  for  houses 
and  not  for  persons,  each  house  being  represented  by  its  head, 
who  signed  as  such.  The  house  to  which  Nehemiah  belonged 
would  be  in  Jerusalem,  and  there  is  no  difficulty  in  conceiving  of 
its  chief,  or  at  least  the  principal  member,  in  Jerusalem  in  the  later 
days  of  Ezra,  signing  on  behalf  of  the  house  (clan).  If  this  view 
be  correct  Ezra  would  not  need  separate  mention,  as  he  would  be 
included  in  '  Seraiah  *  (see  x.  2). 

Some  of  the  grounds  on  which  Kosters  places  x  after  xiii  are 
these  ^  : 

1.  X.  32-39  implies  xiii.  10-13.  This,  of  course,  is  a  question 
of  probability  only,  and  to  the  present  writer  the  contrary  seems 
the  likelier  supposition.  Kosters  assumes  that  the  arrangements 
for  the  support  of  Levites  and  priests  mentioned  in  x.  37  ff.  must, 
if  once  made,  have  continued  in  operation  even  during  Nehemiah 's 
absence.  In  that  case  the  withholding  of  the  tithe  from  the  Levites 
must  have  caused  loss  to  the  priests  as  well,  since  they  were 
allotted  one-tenth  of  the  Levites'  tithe  (x.  37  ff.).  But  the  Levites 
alone  complain,  not  the  priests  (xiii.  10).  It  must,  however,  be 
borne  in  mind  that  our  narrative  is  defective,  and  what  one  desi- 
derates in  cases  like  this  might  have  formed  part  of  a  fuller  history 
which  is  largely  lost.  Then  again,  the  priests  after  the  exile  grew 
in  numbers  and  in  power  very  rapidly,  the  Levites  losing  in  influ- 
ence and  popularity.  It  is  not  at  all  unlikely  that  the  priests, 
after  the  events  of  ch,  x,  took  matters  into  their  own  hands,  received 
the  tithes  payable  in  the  first  instance  to  the  Levites,  and  refused 
to  let  the  latter  have  what  was  necessary  for  their  maintenance. 

See  further  on  ch.  xiii.  1-3,  &c. 

2.  Kosters  maintains  further  that  the  reference  to  the  Sabbath 
in  xiii.  15-22  is  older  than  that  in  x.  32.  Could  the  desecration 
of  the  Sabbath  implied  in  the  former  passage  have  taken  place  after 
the  stringent  undertaking  in  x.  33  ?  Would  not  Nehemiah  have 
referred  to  the  solemn,  signed  covenant?  All  this  is  a  pnori 
reasoning  and  depends  for  its  cogency  very  much  upon  the  indi- 
vidual to  whom  it  is  addressed.  We  know  that  the  covenant  to 
separate  from  strange  wives  was  violated  several  times,  yet  we 
have  no  record  that  in  each  case  the  violated  covenant  is  cited. 

Kosters  refers  to  other  parts  of  ch.  x  in  which  ch.  xiii  is  pre- 
supposed (see  below  notes  on  the  two  chapters). 

In  favour  of  connecting  ch.  x  immediately  with  the  preceding  one 
are  the  following  considerations,  though  the  present  writer  recog- 
nizes that  on  neither  side  of  the  controversy  is  the  evidence  very 
decisive  : — 

I.  The  use  of  the  first  person  plural  in  both  chapters  (see  ix. 
32  ff.,  and  X,  cf.  verses  29,  &c.). 

'  See  Wiederherstellung,  64  ff. 


244  NEHEMIAH  9.  38.     C^ 

38  distress.  •'^  And  ^  yet  for  all  this  we  make  a  c  sure  covenant, 
and  write  it;  and  our  princes,  our  Levites,  and  our 
priests,  ^  seal  unto  it. 

«  [Ch.  X.  I  in  Heb.]  ^  Or,  because  of  '"  Ov,  faithful 

^  Heb.  are  at  the  sealing. 

2.  One  might  expect  the  reading  of  the  law  and  the  confession 
and  prayer  which  followed  to  lead  to  an  attempt  at  the  reorganiza- 
tion of  the  society  and  a  restoration  of  its  laws  and  institutions. 

The  series  of  laws  and  regulations  mentioned  in  ch.  x  are  such  as 
would  be  likely  now  to  come  into  existence.  The  references  to  such 
laws  in  ch.  xiii  aresporadic,  and  seem  due  to  their  neglect  during  the 
absence  of  Nehemiah.  Ch.  x  contains  a  programme  for  the  future, 
and  one  sees  in  this  a  natural  fitness.  The  solemn  undertaking  of 
X.  29  accords  well  with  the  deep  earnestness  which  pervades  ix.  6  ff. 

3.  The  arrangement  in  xiii.  i  flf.  to  separate  from  Ammonites  and 
Moabites  is  more  likely  to  have  been  subsequent  to  the  putting  away 
of  strange  wives,  this  last  being  the  first  and  chief  concern  of  the 
returned  community. 

ix.  38-x.  27.   The  signatories  to  the  covenant. 

ix.  38.  This  verse  belongs  (as  in  the  M.T.,  not  so  in  Luther's 
Bible  as  Ryle  inaccurately  saj's)  to  ch.  x.  It  is  with  this  verse 
that  the  section  concerning  the  signing  of  the  covenant  opens. 

yet  for  all  this  :  render,  '  on  account  of  all  this.'  The  refer- 
ence in  this  must  be  to  a  lost  paragraph,  which  recited  the  causes 
and  terms  of  the  covenant.  There  is  nothing  in  the  foregoing 
confession  and  prayer  to  supply  a  starting-point  for  this  verse. 

sxire  covenant:  the  Heb.  word  (  =  'something  firm  ')  occurs 
only  here  and  in  xi.  23,  and  is  cognate  to  the  adjective  (  =  firm) 
transliterated  '  Amen '  (see  on  v.  13).  Though  the  ordinary  word 
used  for  covenant  (see  ix.  8)  does  not  occur  here,  the  verb  techni- 
cally used  for  making  a  covenant  (  =  'to  cut,'  as  in  Greek,  Latin, 
&c.,  on  account  of  the  ratification  by  sacrifice,  see  Gen.  xv)  is  found 
here,  showing  that  some  kind  of  covenant  is  meant,  though  there 
can  be  no  certainty  on  the  matter.  Perhaps  the  regular  word  for 
covenant  {berit)  is  avoided,  as  it  almost  invariably  describes  what 
God  does,  and  not,  as  here  and  xl.  23,  what  man  undertakes  to  do. 
write  it ;  and  our  princes,  &c.  :  render  (to  end  of  verse), 
'and  our  princes,  our  Levites  (and)  our  priests  wrote  their  names 
to  what  was  sealed.'  The  only  change  in  the  Hebrew  is  the 
omission  of  one  consonant  ( =  *  and  ')  which  has  been  written  twice 
by  mistake,  or  it  may  have  been  accidentally  omitted  before  'our 
priests  '  (see  rendering  above). 

The  E.VV.  make  no  sense  of  this  verse. 

The  princes,  &c.,  attached  their  names  to  the  covenant,  which 
was  afterwards  sealed    and  put   safely  away  in  a  jar  or   other 


NEHEMIAH  10.  1-9.     Cp,  245 

Now  those  that  sealed  were,  Nehemiah  the  Tirshatha,  10 
the  son  of   Hacah'ah,  and  Zedekiah ;  Seraiah,  Azariah,  a 
Jeremiah  ;  Pashhur,  Amariah,  Malchijah  ;  Hattush,  She-  3,  4 
baniah,  Malluch  :  Harim,  Meremoth,  Obadiah  ;  Daniel,  5, 6 
Ginnethon,    Baruch ;    Meshullam,    Abijah,     Mijamin ;  7 
Maaziah,  Bilgai,  Shemaiah  :  these  were  the  priests.    And  8,  9 

receptacle.  Babylonian  contracts  upon  clay  tablets  have  been 
found  at  Nippur^  and  at  other  places,  enclosed  in  clay  sealed 
envelopes,  on  the  outside  of  which  was  a  duplicate  of  the  contract 
to  be  consulted  when  necessary,  the  sealed  and  signed  contract 
to  be  consulted  only  in  cases  of  emergency  (see  Jer.  xxxii.  11).  On 
sealing  =  signing  in  the  Orient,  see  on  Esther  iii,  10. 

X.  1.  those  that  sealed:  render,  'on  what  was  (afterwards) 
sealed  were  (the  following  names)  Nehemiah,'  &c.  If,  with  the 
Hebrew,  we  read  the  plural  '  things  '  sealed,  we  must  understand 
that  the  signers  attached  their  names  to  the  original  covenant  and 
its  duplicate  (see  on  ix.  38). 

The  names  of  those  who  signed  are  arranged  in  classes.  It  is  to 
be  borne  in  mind  that  in  these  lists  we  have  names  of  the  houses 
the  representatives  of  which  signed  the  document,  not  the  names 
of  individuals. 

Nehemiah  the  Tirshatha  . . .  Zedekiah :  the  list  is  headed 
by  the  signatories  of  Nehemiah's  house  (i.e.  the  house  to  which 
belonged  the  Nehemiah  soon  to  play  a  great  part)  and  the  royal 
house  of  Zedekiah.  So  interpreted  the  words  need  cause  no  diffi- 
culty. Many  futile  attempts  to  identify  this  Zedekiah  have  been 
made.  Probably,  however,  this  part  of  ver.  2  is  a  late  interpola- 
tion, due  to  a  desire  to  introduce  those  two  great  names.  Nehe- 
miah's official  title  is  pekhah  (  =  governor),  not  Tirshatha  (see  on 
viii.  9  and  Ezra  ii.  67). 

2-8.  Priestly  houses.  This  list  has  twenty-one  names  as  against 
twenty-two  in  xii.  1-3.  Moreover,  sixteen  names  are  identical  in 
both  lists.  We  read  in  Ezraii.  (36-39'  of  only  four  priestly  houses 
as  having  returned  with  Zerubbabel.  But  the  number  and  influ- 
ence of  the  priests  grew  rapidly  and  continuously  after  the 
exile. 

2.  Seraiah  :  Ezra  belonged  to  this  house,  so  that  his  name  is 
really  included  in  the  list. 

9-13.  Levitical  houses.  Seventeen  are  mentioned  as  against 
two  in  Ezra  ii.  40  (see  on).  Levites  increased,  as  did  priests, 
after  the  return,  though  the}-  graduall3'  came  to  be  more  and  more 
the  subordinates  of  the  priests  'see  xii.  8}. 

'  Peters,  Nippur,  ii.  198. 


246  NEHEMIAH  10.  10-28.     Ce 

the  Levites  :  namely,  Jeshua  the  son  of  Azaniah,  Binnui 

10  of  the  sons  of  Henadad,  Kadmiel ;  and  their  brethren, 

11  Shebaniah,  Hodiah,  Kelita,  Pelaiah,  Hanan ;  Mica, 
12,  13  Rehob,  Hashabiah  ;  Zaccur,  Sherebiah,  Shebaniah  ;  Ho- 

14  diah,  Bani,  Beninu.     The  chiefs  of  the  people  :  Parosh, 

15  Pahath-moab,  Elam,  Zattu,  Bani;  Bunni,  Azgad,  Bebai ; 
17^18  Adonijah,  Bigvai,  Adin;  Ater,  Hezekiah,  Azzur;  Hodiah, 
i9>  20  Hashum,  Bezai ;  Hariph,  Anathoth,  »  Nobai ;  Magpiash, 
31,  22  Meshullam,  Hezir;  Meshezabel,  Zadok,  Jaddua;  Pelatiah, 
33, 24  Hanan,  Anaiah;  Hoshea,  Hananiah,  Hasshub  ;  Hallo- 

25  hesh,  Pilha,  Shobek ;  Rehum,  Hashabnah,  Maaseiah ; 
36, 27  and   Ahiah,    Hanan,  Anan;  Malluch,   Harim,   Baanah. 

28  And  the  rest  of  the  people,  the  priests,  the  Levites,  the 
porters,  the  singers,  the  Nethinim,  and  all  they  that  had 
separated  themselves  from  the  peoples  of  the  lands  unto 

*  Another  reading  is,  Nebai. 

9.  namely :  the  one  Heb.  consonant  {zmw)  so  translated  must 
(with  the  versions  and  some  thirty  Heb.  MSS.)  be  omitted. 

14-27.  Lay  houses.  Forty-one  are  named,  twenty-one  of  them 
(verses  15-21 1  occurringalmost  completely  in  Ezra  ii  (andNeh.vii). 
Of  the  rest  (verses  22-27)  some  are  mentioned  in  ch.  iii. 

28  f.  The  inciividual  members  of  the  houses  associate  themselves 
with  their  representatives,  endorsing  their  action.  It  is  individuals 
that  are  now  indicated  by  priests,  Levites,  «fec.,  the  houses  having 
been  previously  so  named. 

28.  porters  . . .  sing'ers  . . .  Nethinim  :  named  as  distinct  from 
the  Levites  (see  vii.  43  ff.,  Ezra  ii.  40  ff.).  To  the  Chronicler  all 
are  equally  Levites  (see  i  Chron.  xxiii.  3-5,  &c.).  So  Smend, 
Baudissin,  &c,,  against  Torrey  ^  who  denies  the  usage  described 
above,  not  on  inadequate  grounds  as  the  present  writer  thinks. 
NetMnim  :  see  on  Ezra  ii.  43. 

all  they  that  had  separated  themselves,  i.  e.  such  as  had  not 
lived  in  Babylon,  home-staying  Jews  who  had  complied  with  the 
new  law  (see  on  Ezra  vi.  21).  Meyer*  holds  that  proselytes,  non- 
Jewish  converts  to  Judaism  from  the  heathen  around,  are  meant, 
but  Ezra's  and  Nehemiah's  principles  left  no  room  in  Judaism  for 
such  converts. 


Composition,  &c.,  p.  22  f.         *  Die  Entstehung,  (Sec,  p.  129. 


NEHEMIAH  10.  29-31.     Cp.  247 

the  law  of  God,  their  wives,  their  sons,  and  their  daughters, 
every  one  that  had  knowledge  and  understanding ;  they  29 
clave  to  their  brethren,  their  nobles,  and  entered  into  a 
curse,  and  into  an  oath,  to  walk  in  God's  law,  which  was 
given  by  Moses  the  servant  of  God,  and  to  observe  and 
do  all  the  commandments  of  the  Lord  our  Lord,  and  his 
judgements  and  his  statutes ;  and  that  we  would  not  give  ?,o 
our  daughters  unto  the  peoples  of  the  land,  nor  take 
their  daughters  for  our  sons  :  and  if  the  peoples  of  the  31 
land  bring  ware  or  any  victuals  on  the  sabbath  day  to 
sell,  that  we  would  not  buy  of  them  on  the  sabbath,  or 

peoples  of  the  lands  :  see  on  Ezra  iii.  3. 
wives  .  .  .  sons  .  .  .  daughters:  see  on  viii.  2. 

29.  nobles,  lit.  '  powerful  ones,'  the  word  in  iii.  5  (see  on)  not 
that  so  rendered  in  ii.  16  (see  on).  Here  the  word  stands  for  the 
persons  who  signed  the  sealed  covenant  on  behalf  of  the  houses 
they  represented. 

entered  into  a  curse :  the  same  noun  (accompanied  by  the 
causative  form  of  the  verb  here)  is  translated  'oath'  in  Ezek.xvii.13, 
and  in  fact  means  both  ('  he  brought  him  under,'  i.e.  into  *  ancath  '}, 
the  oath  being  one  of  imprecation,  which  amounts  to  a  curse. 
The  use  of  a  following  word  meaning  distinctl}'  •'  oath  '  shows  that 
it  is  the  imprecatory  side  of  the  first  noun  that  is  here  in  view. 
On  the  present  occasion  there  must  have  been  some  ceremonj' 
performed  during  which  the  terms  of  the  curse  would  be  recited. 
The  belief  in  these  times  was  that  an  uttered  curse  executed  itself 
by  its  own  inherent  energy  (see  art.  '  Magic '  (by  the  present 
writer),  Eticyc.  Brit.,  col.  289'',  and  also  art.  '  Blessings  and  Curses,* 
col.  591  f.). 

God's  law:  see  on  viii.  i. 

commandments  .  .  .  judgements  .  .  .  statutes :  see  on  i.  7. 
30-39.    The  obligations  which  the  people  take  upou  themselves. 

30.  that  we  would  not  give  our  daughters,  &c.  :  there  is  no 
explicit  prohibition  of  mixed  marriages  in  the  P  code,  so  that  the 
law  here  cited  must  be  that  of  Exod.  xxxiv.  16  (J)  and  Deut. 
vii.3. 

the  peoples  of  the  land  :  see  on  Ezra  iii.  3. 

31.  The  law  of  the  .Sabbath  here  is  much  likelier  to  be  prior  to 
that  of  xiii.  15-22  than  fas  Kosters  holds'  the  reverse.  The  fact 
that  this  law  was  broken  is  no  proof  that  it  did  not  exist.  More- 
over xiii.  15  ff.  goes  beyond  the  present  undertaking,  in  that  it  for- 


248  NEHEMIAH   10.  32,  3?,-     Cp 

on  a  holy  day  :  and  that  we  would  forgo  the  ^  seventh  year, 

32  and  the  ^exaction  of  every  debt.  Also  we  made  ordinances 
for  us,  to  charge  ourselves  yearly  with  the  third  part  of  a 

33  shekel  for  the  service  of  the  house  of  our  God  ;  for  the 
shewbread,  and  for  the  continual  meal  offering,  and  for 

'^  See  Exod.  xxiii.  10,  11.  ^  See  Deut.  xv.  i,  2. 

bids  the  bringing  into  Jerusalem  on  the  Sabbath  of  wares  to  be 
sold,  even  if  no  Jews  bought  them. 

a  holy  day  :  any  one  of  the  festivals. 

that  we  would  forgo  the  seventh  year :  the  technical 
words  in  this  verse  show  that  the  reference  is  to  Exod.  xxiii.  10  f. 
(JE)  and  not  at  all  to  the  late  law  in  Lev.  xxv.  2-7,  another  proof 
of  early  date. 

the  exaction  of  every  debt :  referring  to  Deut.  xv.  1-3, 
which  enacts  that  every  seventh  year  (beginning  at  any  time)  debts 
should  be  remitted  (so  Steuernagel,  Bertholet),  or  (as  Dillmann 
and  Driver  ?  hold)  suspended  until  the  year  was  past.  It  is  im- 
portant to  remember  that  among  the  Jews  loans  were  made  to 
poor  people  as  acts  of  charity  (see  on  v.  1-5). 

32  f.  A  tax  of  one-third  of  a  shekel  for  the  upkeep  of  the  Temple 
services.  The  words  we  made  ordinances,  &c.,  show  that  this  is 
a  new  arrangement,  replacing,  it  is  probable,  a  voluntary  and  there- 
fore uncertain  payment.  There  is  no  prior  law  on  the  subject. 
Exod.  XXX.  13  (late  P)  belongs  to  a  much  later  time,  and,  moreover, 
the  half-shekel  poll-tax  there  is  merely  an  ad  hoc  arrangement 
according  to  Bertholet,  and  not  a  law  for  the  future.  But  against 
this  last  view  may  be  adduced  2  Chron.  xxiv.  4  f.  ;  Matt.  xvii.  24, 
27  ;   and  Josephus,  Wars,  vii.  6,  6. 

Assuming  that  Exod.  xxx.  13  imposes  a  poll-tax  of  half  a  shekel, 
this  shows,  what  is  otherwise  abundantly  proved,  the  growth  of 
priestly  influence  and  privilege. 

Benzinger  1  gives  figures  to  show  that  one-third  of  the  shekel  of 
the  present  verse  (Babylonian,  Persian)  has  the  same  value  as  one 
half  the  shekel  of  Exod.  xxx.  13  (Phoenician,  Maccabean),  so  that 
in  that  case  there  is  no  contradiction. 

33.  In  this  verse  the  separate  uses  to  which  the  tax  thus  im- 
posed was  to  be  put  are  enumerated. 

shewbread:  lit.,  '  bread  set  in  rows '  (see  Lev.  xxiv.  5  f.  (P)  ; 
cf.  I  Chron.  ix.  32,  xxiii.  29).  In  Exod.  xxv.  30 (P)  it  is  called  'bread 
of  the  face '  or  '  presence,'  because  exposed  before  Deity,  and  '  holy 
bread  '  in  i  Sam.  xxi,  4.  The  table  of  shewbread  was  originally 
an  altar,  the  bread  on  it  being  the  offering.  Sayce,  Fried.  Delitzsch, 

'  Heb.  Archaologie^'^\  p.  200  f. 


NEHEMIAH  10.  34.     Ce  249 

the  continual  burnt  offering,  of  the  sabbaths,  of  the  new 
moons,  for  the  set  feasts,  and  for  the  holy  things,  and  for 
the  sin  offerings  to  make  atonement  for  Israel,  and 
for  all  the  work  of  the  house  of  our  God.     And  we  Z^ 


Haupt  and,  hesitatingly,  Zimmern  ^  say  that  such  table-like  altars 
with  unleavened  cakes  on  them  existed  in  Babylonian  temples. 

continual  (=^ '  daily ')  burnt  offering:  see  on  Ezra  iii.  3, 
ix.  4.  The  custom  implied  here — that  of  presenting  a  meat  and 
meal  offering  in  the  morning  and  evening  respectively — is  that 
which  prevailed  immediately  before  the  exile  (see  p.  9). 

of  the  Sabbaths  .  .  .  new  moons  .  .  .  set  feasts  :  the  con- 
tinual, i.  e.  daily,  sacrifices  were  to  be  made  on  feast  days  as  if 
they  were  ordinary  da3's,  but  additions  had  to  be  made  in  each 
case  according  to  a  scale  given  in  detail  in  Num.  xxviii  f. 

The  set  feasts  are  given  in  detail  in  Num.  xxviii.  i6-xxix.  38, 
though  the  laws  of  Num.  xxviii  f.  may  represent  later  developments 
of  the  kindred  laws  of  Nehemiah's  time.  We  have  no  means  of 
deciding  this  or  the  contrary. 

the  holy  thing's  :  a  general  term  for  sacrifices.  In  2  Chron. 
xxix.  33  the  word  is  used  specifically  of  *  thank  offerings,'  and  in 
2  Chron.  xxxv.  13  of  sacrifices  offered  on  the  days  following  the 
Passover.  Bertholet  says  the  word  stands  here  for  the  compensa- 
tion (wrongly  called  peace)  offerings,  but  the  above  passages  cited 
by  him  do  not  prove  that,  nor  does  anything  else. 

sin  offerings :  so  called  because  intended  to  secure  forgive- 
ness for  sin  committed.  The  earliest  reference  to  these  is  in 
Ezek.  xlv.  17,  It  formed  in  later  times  a  part  of  the  regular 
burnt  offering,  being  presented  at  New  Moon  and  other  festivals  : 
see  Num.  xxviii.   15  ff.,  xxix;  cf.  Lev.  xvi.  21. 

to  make  atonement  means  lit.  to  'cover,'  i.  e.  God's  eyes,  so 
that  He  may  not  see  and  therefore  punish  sin ;  so  the  Arabic 
cognate  verb,  i  Sam.  xii.  3  makes  this  explanation  very  plausible, 
the  word  there  rendered  '  ransom  '  being  the  noun  cognate  with 
the  verb  *  to  cover  (my  eyes).'  Some  derive  the  word  from 
a  verb  =  'to  obliterate,'  'wipe  out '  (cf.  the  Assyrian)  :  see  Lev. 
iv.  10  and  Bertholet's  long  note  on  Lev.  i.  4. 

and  for  all  the  work  :  referring  back  to  the  beginning  of 
the  verse,  not  to  the  immediately  preceding  words. 

In  all  the  work  we  have  a  summing  up  of  what  has  been 
mentioned  in  this  verse. 

the  work:  see  iii.  22;  Ezra  vi.  9,  vii.  20-22. 

^  KATS^>,  p.  600  (including  note  3). 


250  NEHEMIAH   10.  35.     C^ 

cast  lots,  the  priests,  the  Levites,  and  the  people^  for  the 
wood  offering,  to  bring  it  into  the  house  of  our  God, 
according  to  our  fathers'  houses,  at  times  appointed,  year 
by  year,  to  burn  upon  the  altar  of  the  Lord  our  God,  as 
35  it  is  written  in  the  law  :  and  to  bring  the  firstfruits  of 
our  ground,  and  the  firstfruits  of  all  fruit  of  all  manner 


34.  we  oast  lots:  see  xi.  i ;   i  Chron.  xxv.  13 f.     The  lot  was 

cast  not  merely  to  prevent  dispute,  but  also  because  Deity  was 
supposed  thus  to  express  His  will. 

the  priests,  the  Levites  :  the  regular  Deuteronomic  phrase 
(see  Deut.  xviii.  i).  Perhaps,  however,  we  should  here  (with  all 
the  ancient  versions)  read  'the  priests  and  the  Levites,' 

for  the  wood  offering-:  better,  'for  the  bringing  of  the 
wood '  :  see  xiii.  31. 

at  times  appointed:  see  xiii.  31  and  Ezra  x.  14.  According 
to  Rabbinical  tradition  wood  was  brought  nine  times  a  year  i;  but 
Josephus,  IVars,  ii.  17,  6,  seems  to  show  that  this  was  done  on 
the  14th  of  Ab  (Jul3'-August),  which  came  hence  to  be  called 
'  the  feast  of  the  wood  offering'  or  of  '  the  bringing  of  wood.' 

as  it  is  written  :  no  law  of  the  kind  can  be  traced  in  the 
Pentateuch  or  anywhere  else  in  the  O.T.  Perhaps  the  reference 
is  to  some  law  then  existing,  and  classed  with  other  laws  of 
supposed  Mosaic  origin.  But  we  have  here  clear  proof  that 
Ezra's  law  was  not  our  Pentateuch.  Rawlinson  refers  to  Lev. 
vi.  12,  which  has,  however,  to  do  with  the  burning  not  the  bnnging 
of  wood  for  the  altar, 

35.  firstfruits  (of  our  ground) :  see  Exod.  xxiii.  19,  xxxiv.  26 
(JE)  ;  cf,  Deut.  xviii.  4,  xxvi.  2flf.  In  ver.  37  a  different  Hebrew 
word  {ra  sheet)  is  so  translated ;  here  the  Heb.  word  is  bik- 
kurim.  Do  the  two  words  connote  two  different  things? 
Gesenius,  Wellhausen^,  Bertholet,  &c.,  answer  in  the  affirmative, 
holding  that  bikkurim  =  *  first-ripe  fruit '  as  the  E.VV.  render  it  in 
Nahum  iii.  12  and  Num.  xviii,  13 ;  the  etymology  supports  this 
(the  same  root  lies  in  the  Hebrew  word  for  'firstborn,'  bekor). 
The  other  Hebrew  word  {ra  sheet)  means  elsewhere  often  '  the 
best,'  'choicest'  (see  Prov.  iii.  9;  Deut.  xxxiii.  21)  and  it 
may  denote  this  in  ver.  37  and  kindred  passages. 

Many,  however,  hold  that  whatever  difference  the  two  words 
originally    had,    in    actual    usage     they    are     synonymous :     so 

*  Taanit,  iv.  5,  8.     See  Schiirer,  ii.  i.  252  (Germ.^*)  ii.  260), 
^  ProlegS^y  165. 


NEHEMIAH   10.  36,  37.     Ce  251 

of  trees,  year  by  year,  unto  the  house  of  the  Lord  :  also  36 
the  firstborn  of  our  sons,  and  of  our  cattle,  as  it  is 
written  in  the  law,  and  the  firstlings  of  our  herds  and  of 
our  flocks,  to  bring  to  the  house  of  our  God,  unto  the 
priests  that  minister  in  the  house  of  our  God  :  and  that  37 
we  should  bring  the  firstfruits  of  our  ^  dough,  and  our 
*  Or,  coarse  meal 

Dillmann  1,  G.  B.  Gray  2,  and  of  older  commentators,  Clericus  and 
Hupfeld. 

In  later  times  the  word  bikkurim  came  to  be  applied  to  the  first- 
fruits  of  the  'seven  kinds'  of  trees  enumerated  in  Deut.  viii.  8, 
the  word  rd' sheet  being  used  in  reference  to  other  products  of  the 
ground  ^ 

In  each  case  only  a  portion  of  the  firstfruits  was  offered  to 
Yahweh,  as  is  made  clear  in  Deut.  xxvi.  2  ff.  by  the  use  of  the 
partitive  ntin. 

The  practice  of  offering  to  Deity  the  first  products  of  the  soil, 
common  among  many  ancient  peoples*,  could  not  have  arisen 
among  the  Hebrews  until  they  had  exchanged  a  pastoral  for  an 
agricultural  life.  Probably  they  took  over  the  practice  from  the 
Canaanites. 

36.  the  firstborn  of  our  sous :  see  Exod.  xxii.  29,  on  which 
the  present  prescription  seems  to  rest.  Taking  these  two  passages 
by  themselves  one  might  infer  that  firstborn  boys,  as  firstborn  male 
animals,  had  to  be  sacrificed,  and  perhaps  the  words  had  at  the 
first  this  meaning,  for  there  are  several  traces  of  the  practice  of 
human  sacrifice  in  the  O.T. ;  cf.  the  case  of  Isaac  (Gen.  xxii.  i  ff.) 
and  that  of  Jephthah's  daughter  (Judgesxi.  34  ff.).  But  we  are  here 
no  doubt  to  assume  the  operation  of  the  law  of  redemption  recorded 
in  Exod.  xiii.  13,  xxxiv.  20  (J) ;  cf.  Num.  xviii.  16  (P). 

cattle :  explained  more  fully  below. 

as  it  is  written  :  the  reference  is  to  what  follows ;  see  below. 

firstling's  of  our  herds  .  .  .  flocks  :  no  passages  seem  to  suit 
for  bases  except  Num.  xviii.  15-18,  which  in  its  present  setting  at 
least  is  later  than  our  passage.  According  to  this  unclean  animals 
were  to  be  redeemed  (ver.  15),  clean  ones  to  be  sacrificed  (ver.  17). 

37,  firstfruits:  Heb.  rcC sheet  \  see  on  ver.  35. 

dough :  so  the  LXX  ;  but  the  exact  sense  of  the  Hebrew 
word,  found  only  here  and  Num.  xv.  21  (see  Gray  on),  is  very 


^  On  Exod.  xxiii.  19.         ^  On  Num.  xviii.  13. 
^  Schurer(*>,  ii.  249  (Eng.  II.  i.  137  f.). 
*  Robertson  Smith  {ReL  Sem.^'*\  241}. 


252  NEHEMIAH  10.  3/.     Ck 

heave  offerings,  and  the  fruit  of  all  manner  of  trees,  ^  the 
'^  Or,  t/ie  vintage 

uncertain.  Apparently  some  kind  of  cereal  food  is  meant,  of 
which  part  of  the  first  made  had  to  be  presented  to  Yahweh. 
Perhaps  oaten  or  wheaten  porridge  is  meant. 

heave  offering's:  a  very  inaccurate  and  misleading  transla- 
tion, for  the  offerings  meant  Avere  not  *  heaved.'  The  word  means 
simply  *a  gift'  or  'contribution,'  and  the  cognate  verb  =  'to  give.' 
Driver  on  Deut.  xii.  6,  in  DB.  iii.  588  and  on  Mai.  iii.  8  {Century 
Bible)  suggests  'contributions,'  lit.  *  what  is  lifted  from  a  larger 
quantity,'  and  so  given. 

The  word  is  used  in  P  of  contributions  (money,  spoils,  &c.)  for 
sacred  purposes  (see  Exod.  xxv.  af.,  xxx.  13-15;  Num.  xxxi, 
29,  41).  In  Ezra  it  stands  for  the  donations  made  to  the  Temple, 
and  in  Ezek.  (xlv.  i,  6,  &c.)  it  is  used  of  the  land  reserved  for 
priests  and  Levites;  see  further  Lev.  vii.  32-34.  What  specifically 
the  word  connotes  here  and  in  xii.  44  is  not  quite  clear,  but  the 
present  writer  is  inclined  to  think  that  it  is  a  general  term  for 
what  follows  ;  see  on  ver.  39. 

37^-38.  Tithes.  The  sacred  tithe  is  not  known  in  the  older 
codes,  Deut.  xiv.  22-27  and  xxvi.  15  being  the  earliest  biblical 
law  enacting  it,  Num.  xxv.  32  (P)  is  later,  and  Lev.  xxvii.  30-33 
later  still.  The  present  law  differs  from  those  in  the  above  Deut. 
passages,  see  Ryle,  Com.,  p.  279, 

Tithing  as  a  principle  of  taxation  prevailed  to  a  large  extent 
among  ancient  nations,  Egyptians,  Babylonians,  &c.^ 

The  arrangement  in  the  present  instance  was  as  follows  :  The 
tithe  of  land  produce  (not  here  of  the  cattle  as  in  Lev.  xxvii.  32) 
was  brought  to  the  Levites,  as  yet  living  in  country  places,  who 
received  it  in  the  presence  of  a  priest  who  was  to  prevent 
any  purloining.  The  Levites  brought  a  tithe  of  this  tithe  (see 
Num.  xviii.  25-28)  to  Jerusalem  for  the  maintenance  of  the  priests. 

There  is  nothing  about  the  payment  of  tithes  in  the  older  codes, 
but  it  is  prescribed  in  the  D  and  P  codes,  only  that  the  law  in 
each  case  differs,  the  later  law  favouring  the  priests  in  harmony 
with  the  growing  power  of  the  latter.  In  D  (see  Deut.  xii.  17  f., 
xiv.  22-29,  ^xvi.  12)  the  tithe  is  levied  on  vegetable  produce 
alone,  and  moreover  in  two  years  out  of  three  it  was  devoted  to 
the  sacred  festivals  in  which  the  offerer  and  his  family  shared  at 
the  central  sanctuary  (Deut.  xiv.  22-29).  jf"  the  third  year  it  was 
ta  be  stored  up  in  the  offerer's  own  city  for  the  purpose  of  being 
distributed  among  the  poor  (Deut.  xiv.  28  f.,  xxvi.  12).  In  both 
these  cases  the  priests  and  others  had  part  of  the  tithe  thus  offered. 

*  SeeC.  F.  Ktni,  I sraeVsLmus  and  Legal  Proceedings,  p.  231  (note). 


NEHEMIAH   10.  38,  39-     ^e  253 

wine  and  the  oil,  unto  the  priests,  to  the  chambers  of 
the  house  of  our  God;  and  the  tithes  of  our  ground 
unto  the  Levites  ;  for  they,  the  Levites,  take  the  tithes  in 
all  the  cities  of  our  tillage.  And  the  priest  the  son  of  38 
Aaron  shall  be  with  the  Levites,  when  the  Levites  take 
tithes :  and  the  Levites  shall  bring  up  the  tithe  of 
the  tithes  unto  the  house  of  our  God,  to  the  chambers, 
into  the  treasure  house.  For  the  children  of  Israel  and  39 
the  children  of  Levi  shall  bring  the  heave  offering  of  the 
corn,  of  ^  the  wine,  and  of  the  oil,  unto  the  chambers, 
where  are  the  vessels  of  the  sanctuary,  and  the  priests 
that  minister,  and  the  porters,  and  the  singers :  and  we 
will  not  forsake  the  house  of  our  God. 

*  Or,  t/ie  vintage. 

But  the  Priestly  Code  (see  Lev,  xxvii,  30-33 ;  Num.  xviii.  21-32) 
tithed  cattle  as  well  as  vegetable  produce  (see  Lev.  xxvi,  32  f.),  and 
this  tithe  went  entirely  to  the  Levites,  who  had  to  give  one-tenth  of 
what  they  received  to  the  priests.  In  the  present  instance  it  will 
be  seen  that  the  D  law  is  followed  as  regards  what  is  tithed— 
vegetable  produce  alone ;  but  in  other  respects  the  law  in  P  is 
followed.  Probably  here  and  in  xiii.  5  we  are  to  recognize  an 
intervening  stage  of  custom  between  D  and  P. 

38.  to  the  chambers,  into  the  treasure  house  :  the  latter 
(better  rendered  '  the  place  of  the  treasure  ')  is  simply  an  explana- 
tion of  the  former,  to  the  chambers  (or  'cells,'  see  on  Ezra 
viii.  29)  used  to  receive  the  tithe,  &c.,  and  also  as  dwellings  for 
the  priests. 

39.  heave  offering :  better  '  contribution,'  see  on  ver.  37.  Here 
the  term  is  general  for  firstfruits  and  tithes,  as  in  Num.  xviii.  24-28. 

vessels :  those  used  for  holding  the  gifts  in  kind  (tithe,  &c.), 
not  those  spoken  of  in  Ezra  i.  7-11. 

we  will  not  forsake  the  house  of  our  God :  i.  e.  we  will  not 
neglect  to  pay  our  dues  for  the  maintenance  of  the  Temple  officials 
and  its  services. 

Part  II  (of  Nehemiah  Proper). 
With   ch.  xi   the   narrative   interrupted   by   the   Ezra   section 
vii.  73*'-x  is  resumed. 

xi.  I  joins  on  immediately  to  vii.  4,  though  there  is  not  sufficient 
reason  to  separate  from  the  latter  vii.  5-73*- 

The  problem  in  vii.  4  is — how  to  fill  the  now  well-defended 


254  NEHEMIAH  11.  1,2.     N 

11      [N]  And  the  princes  of  the  people  dwelt  in  Jerusalem  : 

the  rest  of  the  people  also  cast  lots,  to  bring  one  of  ten 

to  dwell  in  Jerusalem  the  holy  city,  and  nine  parts  in 

3  the  other  cities.     And  the  people  blessed  all  the  men 

that  willingly  offered  themselves  to  dwell  in  Jerusalem. 

capital?     The  walls   are    completed,   there  is  room  for  a  large 
population,  but  how  can  it  be  secured  ? 

xi.  I  f.  is  what  remains  of  a  fuller  text.  The  very  conjunction 
'and  '  implies  probably  (^though  as  good  Hebraists  know  not  neces- 
sarily, since  the  ^  zvazv  consecutive'  tense  came  often  to  be  a 
tense  simple^)  connexion  with  a  lost  clause  which  perhaps  told  of 
a  second  assembly  held  after  that  of  vii.  5.  In  this  assembly 
it  was  not  improbably  decided  that  princes,  now  living  almost 
wholly  in  the  country  for  purposes  of  agriculture,  should  transfer 
themselves  to  the  capital,  and  that  a  tenth  of  the  able  men  in  the 
country  should  be  chosen  by  lot  to  settle  in  Jerusalem  along 
with  the  princes.  Perhaps  the  decision  to  replenish  the  general 
population  in  the  way  indicated  was  reached  after  the  princes  had 
settled  in  Jerusalem. 

1.  princes:  see  on  Ezra  ix.  i. 

the  rest,  &c. :  render,  '  but  the  rest,'  &c.,  omitting  also. 

cast  lots  :  see  on  x.  34. 

one  of  ten,  &c. :  Berth,  and  Rawl.  give  many  instances 
of  similar  methods  being  used  to  repopulate  ancient  cities 
;Rome,&c.). 

the  holy  city:  see  ver.  18;  Isa.  xlviii.  2;  Joel  iii.  17; 
Dan.  ix.  16,  24;  cf.  the  modern  name  of  Jerusalem,  El-Quds  = 
the  holy  one.  Jerusalem  is  never  so  called  in  Chronicles,  sug- 
gesting that  the  passage  is  free  from  his  influence. 

2.  the  men  that  willing-ly  offered,  &c.  :  i.  e.  those  who  of 
their  own  accord  and  for  the  '  good  of  the  cause  '  volunteered 
to  make  their  homes  in  the  capital.  Keil,  Siegfried,  and  others 
hold  that  by  these  words  the  persons  elected  by  lot  are  meant, 
but  it  can  hardly'  be  said  that  they  *  willingly  offered.' 

In  xi.  3-xii,  26  we  have  lists  which  have  sorely  taxed  the 
ingenuity  of  learned  commentators.  Many  recent  scholars  hold 
that  these  lists  are  due  to  the  prolific  imagination  of  the  Chronicler: 
so  Wellhausen,  Meyer,  and  Bertholet.  It  is  strange,  however, 
if  that  be  so,  that  this  Chronicler  did  not  make  a  better  show  of 
consistency,  for  the  lists  in  verses  3-19  and  i  Chron.  ix.  2-17  go 
bac'K,  no  doubt,  to  one  original,  though  differing  a  good  deal  in 
details  and  also  in  their  context.  Of  course  these  differences 
are  due  in  part,  and  it  may  be  wholly,  to  the  copyists. 

*  See  on  Ezra  i.  1. 


NEHEMIAH   11.  255 

It  is  commonly  assumed  that  as  lists  are  frequently  found  in 
Chronicles,  therefore  the  lists  in  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  are  also  due 
to  the  Chronicler.  But  it  seems  to  the  present  writer  that  the 
exile  is  a  suflficient  explanation  of  the  large  use  made  of  genea- 
logical registers  after  the  return  in  536  b.  c.  When  the  Southern 
Kingdom  came  to  an  end,  and  the  flower  of  the  nation  was  trans- 
ported to  Babylon,  the  national  records,  religious  and  political, 
would  be  removed  to  Babylon  either  by  the  Persian  government 
or  by  the  exiles  themselves  ;  see  Introd.  to  Ezra  ii.  On  their 
return  such  tables  would  be  found  of  the  greatest  utility  in  the 
reconstitution  and  reorganization  of  the  new  community,  and  one 
need  not  be  surprised  that  they  are  often  referred  to  (Ezra  ii ; 
Neh.  vii,  x)  and  that  others  based  on  them  were  made. 

To  what  period  do  the  lists  in  xi.  3-36  belong  ?  Three  opinions 
have  been  defended. 

1.  The  time  before  the  exile.  Smend  ^  maintains  that  the 
country  parts  of  Judah  were  occupied,  as  xi.  25  ff,  implies,  between 
the  beginning  of  the  exile  (606)  and  the  Maccabean  age.  A  similar 
contention  is  made  by  Meyer,  though  in  his  case  it  is  to  argue 
from  it  to  a  late  date  for  the  list.  In  reply  it  is  to  be  said  that 
our  knowledge  of  the  period  between  Nehemiah  and  the  Maccabees 
is  far  too  slight  to  draw  any  dogmatic  conclusions  from  it  except 
within  narrow  limits.  Moreover,  there  might  well  be  a  goodly 
number  of  Jewish  families  scattered  about  Judah  for  agricultural 
and  pastoral  purposes,  all  of  them  protected  by  the  Persian 
government,  and  some  of  them  perhaps  descendants  of  Jews 
never  removed  to  Babylon. 

2.  The  time  of  Nehemiah  :  so  the  majority  of  commentators, 
including  Keil,  Ber.-Ryss.,  and  R3de. 

No  conclusive  reasons  have  been  given  for  rejecting  this  view, 
which  is  implied  in  the  present  arrangement  of  the  Hebrew  and 
English  Bible,  though  the  latter  has  in  itself  but  little  value.  If 
we  assume  that  these  lists  were  put  into  the  form  implied  in  the 
greatly  corrupted  M.T.  by  or  for  Nehemiah,  they  have  for  basis 
the  list  (largely  pre-exilicl  in  Ezra  ii. 

3.  The  time  of  the  Chronicler.  Wellhausen,  Meyer,  Ber- 
tholet,  &c.,  hold  that  these  lists  are  evidence  of  the  state  of  things 
in  the  Chronicler's  own  time.  They  assume,  of  course,  that  this 
chapter  is  the  Chronicler's  own  work,  and,  in  fact,  is  based  on 
I  Chron.  ix,  and  not  the  converse. 

3-24  (except  ver.  20).  Heads  of  Jewish  and  Benjaniinite  families 
now  resident  in  Jerusalem.  In  vii  ( =  Ezra  ii)  they  represent  clans 
or  families. 

In  I  Chron.  ix.  3  mention  is  made  in  a  general  way  of  families 
belonging  to  Ephraim  and  Manasseh,  though  no  names  are  given. 


^  Lehrhuch}  340  n. 


256  NEHEMIAH  11.  3-6.     C.n- 

3  [Cx]  ^  Now  these  are  the  chiefs  of  the  province  that  dwelt 
in  Jerusalem  :  but  in  the  cities  of  Judah  dwelt  every  one 
in  his  possession  in  their  cities,  fo  wit,  Israel,  the  priests, 
and  the  Levites,  and  the  Nethinim,  and  the  children  of 

4  Solomon's  servants.  And  in  Jerusalem  dwelt  certain 
of  the  children  of  Judah,  and  of  the  children  of  Benjamin. 
Of  the  children  of  Judah:  Athaiah  the  son  of  Uzziah, 
the  son  of  Zechariah,  the  son  of  Amariah,  the  son  of 
Shephatiah,    the    son    of    Mahalalel,    of    the    children 

5  of  Perez ;  and  Maaseiah  the  son  of  Baruch,  the  son  of 
Col-hozeh,  the  son  of  Hazaiah,  the  son  of  Adaiah^  the 
son  of  Joiarib,  the  son  of  Zechariah,  the  son  of  the  Shi- 

6  lonite.  All  the  sons  of  Perez  that  dwelt  in  Jerusalem 
were  four  hundred  threescore   and  eight  valiant  men. 

^  See  1  Chron.  ix.  2,  &c. 

3-9.  Heads  of  lay  families. 
3-6.  Judahites. 

3.  chiefs :  i.  e.  heads  of  houses  (families).  In  i  Chron,  ix.  2 
the  word  is  by  mistake  '  first.'  These  had  formerly  lived  on  their 
country  estate. 

province:  see  on  Ezra  i,  and  cf.  Neh.  i.  3  f. 
but  in  the  cities  of  Judah,  &c.  :  i.  e.  the  bulk  of  those  belong- 
ing to  the  Jewish  community,  lay  and  official,  had  their  home  in 
theprovincial centres  (cities,  towns,  andvillages):  see  on  Ezra  x,  14. 

Zsrael :  i.  e.  laymen  as  distinguished  from  the  Temple  officials, 
priests,  &c.     See  on  Ezra  x.  25. 

Nethinim  :  see  on  Ezra  ii.  43  ff. 

children  of  Solomon's  servants :  see  on  Ezra  ii.  58.  They 
are  absent  from  the  list  in  i  Chron.  ix. 

4.  Athaiah :  in  i  Chron.  ix  '  Uthai,'  really  one  name.  In 
Hebrew  the  resemblance  in  spelling  is  closer  than  in  English. 

Perez  :  see  Gen.  xxviii.  29. 
3.  Col-hozeh:  see  iii.  15. 

the  son  of  the  Shilonite:  read,  'the  Shelanite,'  from 
*  Shelah  '  (see  Num.  xxvi.  20).  The  word  rendered  'son'  {ben) 
means  simpl^^  one  of  the  class  '  Shelanites.'  It  is  Masseiah 
(i  Chron.  ix,  Asaiah)  that  is  so  called.  'Jeuel,'  'of  the  sons  of 
Zerah  '  (Judah's  third  son),  is  added  in  i  Chron.  ix.  6. 

6.  four  hundred  threescore  and  eight:  in  i  Chron.  'six 
hundred  and  ninety.' 


NEHEMIAH  11.  7-12.     C^  257 

And  these  are  the  sons  of  Benjamin  :  Sallu  the  son  of  7 
Meshullam,    the    son   of    Joed,    the    son    of    Pedaiah, 
the   son   of    Kolaiah,    the   son   of    Maaseiah,   the    son 
of  Ithiel,  the  son  of  Jeshaiah.     And  after  him  Gabbai,  8 
Sallai,  nine  hundred  twenty  and  eight.     And  Joel  the  9 
son  of  Zichri   was   their   overseer:  and  Judah  the   son 
of  Hassenuah  was  second  over  the  city.     Of  the  priests  :  10 
Jedaiah  the  son  of  Joiarib,  Jachin,  Seraiah  the  son  of  n 
Hilkiah,  the  son  of  Meshullam,  the  son  of  Zadok,  the 
son  of  Meraioth,  the  son  of  Ahitub,  the  ruler  of  the  house 
of  God,  and  their  brethren  that  did  the  work  of  the  house,  12 


valiant  men :  men  able  to  engage  in  ^var. 
7-9.    Benjamites.       In    later   times   the   tribe    of    Benjamin    is 
lost  in  that  of  Judah  :  see  on  Ezra  i.  5.     The  names  in  i  Chron. 
differ  considerably  from  those  found  here. 

8.  Read,  'And  his  clansmen  (so  Luc,  cf.  verses  12,  13,  14'  were 
mighty  warriors,  nine  hundred  and  twenty-eight.'  The  changes 
in  the  Hebrew  to  produce  the  above  are  not  great,  Gabbai, 
Sallai  being  evidently  a  corruption  of  '  might  warriors'  {Gibbore 
Khail). 

9.  overseer :  LXX  episcopos,  whence  our  '  bishop.'  The 
Hebrew='one  appointed  over':  so  verses  14,  22;  Esther  ii.  3 
(E.W.  •  officers '). 

10-24  (except  20).   Temple  Officials. 
10-14.  Priests. 

10.  For  son  of  Joiarib  read  '  Joiarib '  ;  so  1  Chron.  ix.  10  ;  cf. 

1  Chron.  xxiv.  7. 

11.  Seraiah:  i  Chron.  ix.  11  'Azariah,'  The  designation 
*  ruler  of  the    house   of  God '  is  attached  to  the  latter  name  in 

2  Chron.  xxxi.  13  ;  cf.  2  Kings  xxv.  18.  Probably  an  official  of 
priestly  standing  charged  with  the  general  oversight  of  the 
Temple  is  intended. 

rtiler  of  the  house  of  God :  hardly  the  high-priest,  as  there 
were  at  the  same  time  several  officials  so  designated  :  see  2  Chron. 
xxxv.  8.  If  the  high-priest  is  meant  this  'Seraiah'  might,  as 
Bertheau  suggests,  be  the  ancestor  of  Ezra  mentioned  in  Ezra 
vii.  I. 

12.  and  their  brethren  :  better,  '  clansmen  '. 

that  did,  &c.  :  the  words  '  that  did,'  &c.,  describe  the  work 
of  the  priests  mentioned  in  ver.  11  and  their  brother  clansmen. 

S    2 


2S8  NEHEMIAH  11.  13-17.     C^. 

eight  hundred  twenty  and  two  :  and  Adaiah  the  son  of 
Jeroham,  the  son  of  Pelaliah,  the  son  of  Amzi,  the  son 
of  Zechariah,  the  son  of  Pashhiir,  the  son  of  Malchijah, 

13  and  his  brethren,  chiefs  of  fathers'  hotises,  two  hundred 
forty  and  two  :  and  Amashsai  the  son  of  Azarel,  the  son  of 

14  Ahzai,  the  son  of  Meshillemoth,  the  son  of  Immer,  and 
their  brethren,  mighty  men  of  valour,  an  hundred  twenty 
and  eight :  and  their  overseer  was  Zabdiel,  ^  the  son  of 

15  Haggedolim.  And  of  the  Levites :  Shemaiah  the  son 
of  Hasshub,  the  son  of  Azrikam,  the  son  of  Hashabiah, 

16  the  son  of  Bunni ;  and  Shabbethai  and  Jozabad,  of  the 
chiefs  of  the  Levites,  who  had  the  oversight  of  the  out- 

17  ward  business  of  the  house  of  God;  and  Mattaniah  the 
son  of  Mica,  the  son  of  Zabdi,  the  son  of  Asaph,  who 
was  the  chief  to  begin  the  thanksgiving  in  prayer,  and 

''Or,  one  of  the  great  men 

13.  Amashsai:   i  Chron.  ix.  12  '  Maasai,* 

14.  their  (brethren)  :  read  '  his '  (with  Liic.  and  LXX).  '  Clans- 
men '  is  better  than  *  brethren.' 

15-18.  Levites, 

16.  Shabbethai  and  Jozabad,  of  the  chiefs  of  the  Iievites : 
the  Levites  had  evidently  several  overseers  :   see  var.  22. 

the  outward  business  of  the  house :  cf.  on  ver.  22  and  see 
I  Chron.  xxvi.  29.  Here  the  phrase  denotes  duties  other  than 
those  connected  with  the  worship  and  ritual  of  the  Temple  build- 
ing proper,  such  as  carving  for  the  fabric,  procuring  the  necessary 
supplies  of  wood,  animals,  &c.,  for  food,  sacrifice,  &c.,  accepting 
gifts  to  the  Temple  and  safeguarding  them  (Ezra  viii.  33). 

V7.  Zabdi:  read  (with  Luc,  LXX)  'Zikri.' 
the   chief  to  begin :  render  (changing   one  consonant  into 
another  almost  exactly  like  it),  'the  leader  of  the  Psalm-singing': 
so  Lxic,  LXX,  Vulg. 

the  thanksg'iving  in  prayer  :  render,  *  offered  thanks ' 
('praised,'  see  on  Ezra  iii.  11  and  x.  i)  'during  prayer.' 

This  inclusion  of  musicians  among  the  Levites,  usual  in 
Chronicles,  is  not  met  with  in  the  original  sources  of  Ezra- 
Nehemiah  (see  p.  61).  We  have  the  same  inclusion  of  singers 
among  the  Levites  in  ver.  22,  xii.  8,  27,  and  in  Ezra  iii.  7.  These 
parts  are  perhaps  from  the  hand  of  the  Chronicler,  or  they  may 
have  been  worked  over  by  him. 


NEHEMIAH  11.  18-23.     C,,  259 

Bakbukiah,  the  second  among  his  brethren  ;  and  Abda  the 
sonof  Shammua^the  sonofGalaljthesonof  Jeduthun.  All  18 
the  Levites  in  the  holy  city  were  two  hundred  fourscore 
and  four.  Moreover  the  porters,  Akkub,  Talmon,  and  their  19 
brethren,  that  kept  watch  at  the  gates,  were  an  hundred 
seventy  and  two.    And  the  residue  of  Israel,  of  the  priests,  20 
the  Levites,  were  in  all  the  cities  of  Judah,  every  one  in  his 
inheritance.     But  the  Nethinim  dwelt  in  Ophel  :    and  21 
Ziha  and  Gishpa  were  over  the.Nethinim.     The  overseer  22 
also  of  the  Levites  at  Jerusalem  was  Uzzi  the  son  of 
Bani,  the  son  of  Hashabiah,  the  son  of  Mattaniah,  the 
son  of  Mica,  of  the  sons  of  Asaph,  the  singers,  over  the 
business  of  the  house  of  God.     For  there  was  a  com-  23 

Bakbukiah :  in  i  Chron.  ix.  15  '  Bakbakkar.' 

tlie  second :  i.  e.  to  Mathaniah. 

brethren  :  better,  *  clansmen.' 

Jedntlian  :  named  in  the  titles  of  Pss.  xxxix,  Ixii,  and 
Ixxvii  (see  i  Chron.  xvi.  41).  In  i  Chron.  vi.  33-47,  xv.  17,  ig, 
Heman,  Asaph,  and  Ethan  are  mentioned  as  the  leading  singers ; 
but  in  I  Chron.  xvi.  41,  xxv.  i  ff.  Jeduthun  takes  the  place  of 
Ethan  owing,  it  would  appear,  to  a  different  tradition. 

18.  the  holy  city :  see  on  xi.  i. 

19.  the  porters.  In  the  parallel  passage  (i  Chron.  ix.  17  ff.) 
a  long  addition  is  made  to  the  present  verse,  probably  an  inter- 
polation. 

the  porters :  see  on  Ezra  ii.  43  ff. 

20.  This  verse  should  immediately  precede  ver.  25,  from  which, 
probably  by  a  copyist,  it  has  been  separated :  see  below. 

21-24.   Notes  concerning  certain  officials  appointed  by  the  king. 

21.  Nethinim:  see  on  Ezra  ii.  43  ff. 
Ophel:  see  on  iii.  27. 

22.  overseer  :  see  on  ver.  16. 

of  the  sons  of  Asaph  :  belonging  to  the  guild  of  Asaphites. 
It  cannot  be  proved  that  such  a  man  as  Asaph  existed  :  see 
Psalms,  vol.  ii,   p.  37  {Century  Bible). 

over  the  business  of  the  house  of  God :  i.  e.  over  the 
liturgical  services  of  the  Temple.  Uzzi's  duties  were  therefore  of 
a  higher  character  than  those  of  Shabbethai  and  Jozabad  (ver.  16, 
see  on). 

23.  The  king  saw  to  the  regular  support  of  the  singers.  See 
xil.  47,  xiii.  5  ;  Ezra  vi.  8   10,  vii,  20-24, 


26o  NEHEMIAH  11.  24, 35.     C., 

mandment  from  the  king  concerning  them,  and  ^  a  settled 

24  provision  for  the  singers,  as  every  day  required.  And 
Pethahiah  the  son  of  Meshezabel,  of  the  children  of 
Zerah  the  son  of  Judah,  was  at  the  king's  hand  in  all 

25  matters  concerning  the  people.  And  for  the  villages, 
with  their  fields,  some  of  the  children  of  Judah  dwelt 

*  Or,  a  sure  ordinance  concerning 

the  king:   evidently  Artaxerxes  I  :  see  ver.  24  and  the  above 
passages.     This  king  took  a  special  interest  in  the  Temple  service. 
a  settled  provision:  lit.  *  something  firm  *  (see  on  x.  i). 

24.  Pethahiah  was  evidently  an  official  who  acted  between  the 
king  and  the  Jews,  especially  in  matters  affecting  the  psalmody  of 
the  house.         Zerah  :  see  on  ver.  5. 

at  the  king's  hand :  i.  e.  at  the  king's  disposal  to  represent 
the  king  in  the  particular  matters  just  spoken  of  It  does  not  mean 
that  he  was  governor  at  Jerusalem,  for  we  assume  that  Nehemiah 
held  that  position  at  the  time  under  review. 

This  man's  jurisdiction  is  often  held  (as  by  Siegfried)  to  extend 
to  general  Jewish  affairs  in  Jerusalem,  his  superior  residing  at 
Samaria  (Ezra  iv.  8,  17).  But  it  is  exceedingly  probable  that 
Judah  and  Samaria  were  administered  by  separate  governors  : 
see  on  Ezra  viii.  36, 

20,  25-36.  Country  parts  of  Judah  outside  Jerusalem  inhabited  by 
Jews.     See  p.  254  (notes  on  verses  r  f.  and  on  ver.  3). 

We  have  here  the  same  general  divisions  as  in  ver.  3  ff;,  viz. 
Judahites  and  Benjamites,  laymen  and  Temple  officials,  only  we 
seem  to  have  but  a  torso  of  what  was  originally  written.  In  these 
verses  we  have  a  list  of  the  outlying  places  where  the  clans  reside  ; 
in  verses  3  f  of  the  heads  of  clans  that  settled  in  Jerusalem. 

20.  This  verse  forms  a  general  introduction  to  verses  25-36, 
and  belongs  here. 

the  residue  of:  the  same  Hebrew  word  translated  '  the  rest 
of  in  ver.  i.     Here  it  means  what  remains  when  those  settled  in 
Jerusalem  are  taken  from  the  Jewish  community. 
Israel :  laymen  ;  see  on  ver.  i. 

25-30.   The  Judahites. 

25.  And  for  the  villages,  &c.  :  render,  '  And  as  regards  the 
estates  with  their  fields,'  &c.  Ver.  20  tells  us  that  those  of  the 
community  that  lived  outside  of  Jerusalem  dwelt  on  their  several 
land  properties  ('  possessions  '  :  E.VV.  *  inheritance  ').  In 
ver.  25  the  writer  passes  on  to  remark  that  as  regards  these 
estates  and  the  adjoining  lands  'some  Judahites  dwelt  in,'  &c. 
See  Lev.  xxv.  31  ('the  houses  of  the  wall-less  villages  shall  be 
counted  as  belonging  to  the  country  fields,'  &c.). 


NEHEMIAH   11;  26-30.     C^  261 

in  Kiriath-arba  and  the  '^  towns  thereof,  and  in  Dibon  and 
the  ^  towns  thereof,  and  in  Jekabzeel  and  the  villages 
thereof;  and  in  Jeshiia,  and  in  Moladah,  and  Beth-pelet ;  26 
and  in  Hazar-shual,  and  in  Beer-sheba  and  the  ''^  towns  27 
thereof;  and  in   Ziklag,  and   in   Meconah   and  in  the  a8 
^  towns  thereof ;  and  in  En-rimmon,  and  in  Zorah^  and  in  29 
Jarmuth;  Zanoah,  Adullam,  and  their  villages,  Lachish  30 
and  the  fields  thereof,  Azekah  and  the  ^  towns  thereof. 
So  they  encamped  from  Beer-sheba  unto  the  valley  of 

*  Heb.  daughters. 

villages  :  lit.  '  enclosures ' :  then  abode.  Here  the  word 
denotes  in  general  the  various  settlements  in  Judah. 

Kiriath-arba :  according  to  Judges  i.  lo  the  older  name  of 
Hebron  :  see  Gen.  xxiii.  2  (P)  ;  Joshua  xiv,  15.  But  if  this  is  the 
older  name,  why  is  it  used  here  ? 

and  the  towns  thereof  :  lit.  'and  its  daughters,' the  regular 
phrase  for  '  and  its  dependent  places '  (cities,  towns,  or  villages). 

Dibon  .  .  .  Jekabzeel :  usually  identified  with  Dintonah  and 
Kabzeel  (Joshua  xv.  21  f.). 

26.  Jeshna:  nowhere  else  mentioned  in  the  O.  T. 

BSoladah :  see  Joshua  xv.  26.     Not  yet  identified. 

Beth-pelet:  see  Num.  x.  26;  Joshua  xv.  27.  Hitherto  not 
identified. 

Hazar-shtial .  .  .  Beersheba  :  see  Joshua  xv.  28,  &c.  The 
latter  is  now  called  Bir  es-Seba'a. 

28.  Ziklag:  see  Joshua  xv.  31 ;  i  Sam.  xxx.  i. 
Meconah:    named    nowhere  else  in  the  O.  T.     Probably  = 

the  modern  Mekenna,  twelve  miles  north-west  of  Beit  Jibrin. 

29.  En-rinxmon:  3eeJoshuaxv.32,  xix.  7;  i  Chron.iv. 32,  where 
in  the  LXX  (best  codd.)  the  same  reading  is  implied.  The  M.T.  of 
the  passages  cited  assumes  two  places,  'Ain'  ('En ')and 'Riramon.' 

Zorah :  see  Joshua  xv.  33.         Jarmuth :  see  Joshua  xv.  35. 

30.  Zanoah  :  see  Joshua  xv.  34  =  the  modern  Zanua,  two  and 
a  half  miles  south  of  Beth  Shemesh. 

Adnllam  .  .  .  Azekah  :  see  Joshua  xv.  35. 

Lachish  (see  Joshua  xv.  39,  &c.,  &c.)  -=  the  modern  Tell-el- 
Hesy  (or  Umrn  Lakis?  ^).     An  important  Amorite  city. 

from  Beer-sheba  (in  the  extreme  south  of  the  land)  to  the 
valley  of  Hinnom  (in  the  extreme  north  of  Judah). 

^  So  Robinson.  But  the  modern  Umm  Lakish  more  probably 
occupies  the  site  of  a  city  founded  by  a  colony  from  Lakish 
(=  Lachish).  Professor  Sayce,  however,  tells  me  that  Umm  Lakish 
(which  the  natives  now  call  Latish)  is  a  Roman  village. 


262  NEHEMIAH  11.  31-36.     C^ 

31  Hinnom.     The  children  of  Benjamin  also  dweU  from 

Geba  onward,  at  Michmash  and  Aija,  and  at  Beth-el  and 

32)  33  the  '"^  towns  thereof;  at  Anathoth,  Nob,  Ananiah  ;  Hazor, 

34,  35  Ramah,  Gittaim ;  Hadid,  Zeboim,  Neballat ;  Lod,  and 

36  Ono,    ^the   valley  of  craftsmen.     And  of  the  Levites, 

certain  courses  in  Judah  ivere  joined  to  Benjamin. 

*  Heb.  daughters.       ^  Or,  Gehaharashim     See  i  Chron,  iv.  14. 

31-35.    The  Benjamites. 

31.  from  Geba  onward:  read,  *at  Geba,'  changing  one  con- 
sonant. 

Geba:  see  on  Ezra  ii.  26. 

Michmash  :  see  on  Ezra  ii.  27. 

For  Aija  (  =  Ai)  and  Bethel  see  on  Ezra  ii.  28. 

32.  Anathoth:   see  on  Ezra  ii.  23. 

Wob  :  a  priest's  city  quite  close  to  Jerusalem,  but  as  yet 
unidentified  :  see  i  Sam.  xxi.  i,  xxii.  9,  11,  19,  &c. 

Ananiah :  nowhere  else  referred  to  in  the  O.  T.  Com- 
monly identified  with  Beit  Hatinina,  a  village  two  miles  to  the 
north  of  Jerusalem. 

33.  Hazor :  probably  =  the  modern  Khurhet  Hasstir,  a  little 
north  of  Jerusalem,  quite  close  to  the  last-named  place. 

Ramah :  see  on  Ezra  ii.  26. 

Gittaim :  mentioned  only  here.    Itsexact  position  is  unknown. 

34.  Hadid:  see  on  Ezra  ii.  33. 

Zeboim :  not  identified  and  nowhere  else  named  ;  but  cf. 
I  Sam.  xiii,  18  (*  the  valley  of  Zeboim  '). 

Neballat  =  the  modern  Beit  Nebdla,  about  four  miles  north- 
east of  Lydda.     Nowhere  else  mentioned. 

35.  Lod  .  .  .  Ono  :  see  on  Ezra  ii.  33. 

the  valley  of  craftsmen  :  on  the  road  between  Jerusalem 
and  Jaffa  :  see  1  Chron.  iv.  14,  where  the  A.V.  and  R.V.  treat  the 
words  as  a  proper  name,  Ge-harashim.  The  valley  had  its  name 
probably  from  the  large  number  of  craftsmen  who  dwelt  in  it. 

36.  Render  (with  Luc).  'And  some  of  the  Levites'  (who  did 
not  live  at  Jerusalem)  '  were  in  Judah  and  (some)  in  Benjamin  '  : 
i.  e.  the  non-Jerusalem  Levites  were  distributed  in  Judah  and 
Benjamin.  The  meaning  of  the  M.T.  is,  '  some  Levites  who  in 
former  times  had  been  attached  to  Judah,  now  had  their  homes  in 
Benjamin.' 

XIL  1-26.  Various  Lists  of  Priests  and  Levites. 
We  have    in  this  section  a  collection  of  separate  lists  which 
appear  to  have  been  kept  in  the  Temple  archives,  and  the  placing 
of  which  here  was  suggested   by  the  list  in  xi.  3  ff.     Torrey  is 


NEHEMIAH  12.  1-4.     Tr  263 

[T  J  Now  these  are  the  priests  and  the  Levites  that  12 
went  up  with  Zerubbabel  the  son  of  Shealtiel,  and  Jeshua: 
Seraiah,  Jeremiah,  Ezra ;  Amariah,  Malluch,  Hattush ;  2 
Shecaniah,  Rehum,  Meremoth;  Iddo,  Ginnethoi,  Abijah;  3, 4 
very  sure  that  every  word  of  ch.  xii  is  by  the  Chronicler',  but  if 
so,  it  is  quite  inexplicable  that  he  should  set  side  by  side  lists 
which  are  obviously  incomplete  and  even  inconsistent.  We  have 
here  lists  which  in  an  older  form  are  old  and  original,  but  they 
have  been  edited  and  connecting  passages  inserted,  probably  by 
different  hands  and  at  different  times.  In  verses  11  and  22 
Jaddua,  who  flourished  about  330  b.  c,  is  mentioned,  and  in 
ver.  26  the  time  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  is  looked  back  to  as 
belonging  to  the  distant  past.  These  lists  present  many  difficulties, 
chronological  and  otherwise.  If  Hashabiah  and  Sherebiah  (ver.  24) 
were  contemporaries  of  Joiakim,  son  of  Jeshua,  and  also  of  Ezra 
(Ezra  viii.  i8  f.,  24),  then  Ezra  and  Joiakim  must  have  lived  about 
the  same  time,  which  is  exceedingly  unlikely,  for  Jeshua's  son 
could  hardly  have  been  high-priest  in  458  b.  c. 

In  verses  1-7  we  have  virtually  the  same  names  assigned  to  the 
time  of  Jeshua  which  verses  12-21  connect  with  Jeshua's  son 
Joiakim,  and  which  in  x.  i  ff.  are  apparently  referred  to  the  time 
of  Ezra.  This,  however,  should  not  occasion  any  insuperable 
difficulty,  for  in  each  case  the  names  of  houses  remain  essentially 
unchanged,  though  the  unnamed  individuals  who  represented 
them  would  necessarily  vary. 

In  verses  8f.,  24  f.  the  singers  seem  (though  not  by  name)  to 
be  included  among  the  Levites,  as  are  the  porters  in  ver.  25 — 
a  sign  of  late  date  (see  p.  6i  and  on  xi.  17). 

1-9.  Priestly  and  Leviiical  houses  at  the  time  of  the  return  under 
Zerubbabel  and  Jeshua.  The  lists  in  these  verses  differ  consider- 
ably from  the  corresponding  lists  in  Ezra  ii  (=Neh.  vii)  ;  perhaps 
because  the  reference  is  here  to  corresponding  houses  as  they 
existed  in  Nehemiah's  day. 

1-7-  Priestly  houses  :  see  x.  3-9,  Ezra  ii.  2. 

2.  SZallucli:  in  ver.  14  '■  Malluchi.' 
Hattush  :  not  in  ver.  12  ff. 

3.  Shecaniah :  in  ver.  14  '  Shebaniah  '  through  confusion  of 
two  similarly  written  letters.  The  first  form  occurs  in  1  Chron. 
xxiv.  II  and  in  the  Greek  versions  (LXXand  Luc.)  of  ver.  14.  But 
in  x.  4  we  have  *  Shebaniah.' 

Rehum  :  in  ver.  15  '  Harim,'  which  is  more  correct  (see  x.  6 
and  Ezra  ii.  39).  The  consonants  are  identical  in  both  cases, 
though  differently  arranged. 

4.  Oinnethoi  :  in  ver.  16  ^  Ginnethon,'  as  in  x.  3. 

^  Composition,  &c.  p.  43. 


264  NEHEMIAH  12.  5-13.  Tr 

5, 6  Mijamin,     ]Maadiah,    Bilgah ;    Shemaiah,    and    Joiarib, 

7  Jedaiah ;  Sallu,   Amok,  Hilkiah,  Jedaiah.     These  were 
the  chiefs  of  the  priests  and  of  their  brethren  in  the 

8  days  of  Jeshua.     Moreover  the  Levites  :  Jeshua,  Binnui, 
Kadmiel,  Sherebiah,  Judah,  and  Mattaniah,  which  was 

9  over  a  the  thanksgiving,  he  and  his  brethren.    Also  Bak- 
bukiah  and  Unno,  their  brethren,  were  over  against  them 

10  in  wards.    And  Jeshua  begat  Joiakim,  and  Joiakim  begat 

11  Eliashib,  and  Ehashib  begat  Joiada,  and  Joiada  begat 
13  Jonathan,  and  Jonathan  begat  Jaddua.     And  in  the  days 

*  Or,  the  choirs 

5.  Mijamin  :  in  ver.  16  •  Miniamin.' 

Maadiah  :  in  ver.  17  '  Moadiah,'  the  correct  form  being  pro- 
bably as  Z.wc.  and  X.  8  *  Maaziah.' 

7.  Sallu:  in  ver.  20  '  Sallai.' 
8  f.  Levites  :  see  Ezra  ii.  40-42. 

8.  Binntii  :  so  x.  10 ;  in  viii.  7  and  ix.  4  *  Bani.' 
Kadmiel,  Sherebiali :  see  viii.  7,  ix.  4,  x.  10,  13. 

wMcli  was  over  the  thanksgiving',  i.  e.  who  had  charge  of 
the  singing,  the  reference  being  to  Mattaniah  only  (see  xi.  17). 
The  marginal  reading  '  the  choirs  '  is  an  error  based  on  the  mistaken 
spelling  of  the  Hebrew  word. 

9.  were  over  ag'ainst  them,  i.  e.  stood  opposite  to  them  and 
sang  in  turns  with  them,  i.  e.  antiphonally  (see  ver.  24,  2  Chron. 
vii.  7,  and  cf.  Psalms,  vol.  ii  (Century  Bible),  pp.  26,  236,  245,  288). 

In  wards  :  render,  *  in  (their)  watches '  (see  ver.  24,  i  Chron. 
xxvi.  16).  The  word  denotes  the  '  bands  '  or  *  courses '  of  Levites 
who  in  their  turns  functioned  in  the  Temple. 

I o  f.    The  h igh -priests . 

10.  Jeshua:  see  on  Ezra  ii.  2. 

Joiakim :  it  would  seem  (see  verses  12,  26)  that  under  his 
superintendence  a  register  of  priests  and  Levites  was  made. 

Zliashih  (see  iii.  i  and  on  Ezra  x.  6)  and  Joiada  (see  xiii.  28) 
were  Nehemiah's  contemporaries. 

11.  Jonathan :  read  '  John,'  and  see  on  ver.  22  and  on  Ezra  x.  6. 
Jaddua :    no  doubt  the  high-priest  mentioned  by  Josephus 

as  going  to  meet  Alexander  the  Great  to  appease  his  wrath  as  the 
great  conqueror  was  approaching  Jerusalem  ^  Though  the  inci- 
dent related  by  Josephus  is  unhistorical,  it  would  appear  to  show 
that  Jaddua  lived  about  334  b.  c.  (see  on  Ezra  x.  6). 

^  Antig.  xi.  7,  12  and  8,  4  f . 


NEHEMIAH  12.  13.23.     T,,  265 

of  Joiakim    were   priests,    heads   of   fathers'  houses :    of 
Seraiah,   Meraiah  ;    of   Jeremiah,   Hananiah  ;    of   Ezra,  13 
MeshuUam ;  of  Amariah,  Jehohanan  ;  of '"^  Malluchi,  Jona-  14 
than;    of    Shebaniah,    Joseph;    of    Harini,    Adna ;    of  15 
Meraioth,  Helkai ;   of  Iddo,  Zechariah ;  of  Ginnethon,  16 
Meshullam;  of  Abijah,  Zichri;  of  Miniamin,  of  Moadiah,  17 
Piltai;  of  Bilgah,  Shammua  ;  of  Shemaiah,  Jehonathan  ;  18 
and  of  Joiarib,   Mattenai ;  of  Jedaiah,  Uzzi ;   of  Sallai,  19,  20 
Kallai;    of   Amok,   Eber;    of   Hilkiah,   Hashabiah ;    of  21 
Jedaiah,  Nethanel.     The  Levites  in  the  days  of  EUashib,  22 
Joiada,  and  Johanan,  and  Jaddua,  were  recorded  heads 
of  fathers'   houses ;    also   the  priests,  t>  in  the  reign    of 
Darius  the  Persian.      The  sons  of  Levi,  heads  of  fathers'  23 
houseSy  were  written  in  the  book  of  the  chronicles,  even 
*  Another  reading  is,  Melicu.  ^  Or,  to 

12-21.  Heads  of  priestly  houses  in  the  time  of  Joiakim  {circa  499- 
463  B.  c).     For  the  differences  in  names  see  on  verses  1-7. 

17.  of  Miniamin :  the  name  of  the  head  of  this  house  has 
fallen   out.    Read  ^  of  Miniamin  .  .  . ' 

22-26.  Heads  ofLevitical  houses  with  sundry  short  notices. 

22.  The  text  of  this  verse  is  obviously  corrupt,  but  the  sense  is 
evidently,  that  during  the  high-priesthood  of  the  four  men  named 
a  register  of  heads  of  priestly  and  Levitical  houses  was  kept.  One 
might  (making  two  very  trivial  textual  changes)  read,  '  Of  the 
Levites  in  the  days  of  Eliashib  .  .  .  were  recorded  the  heads  of 
fathers'  (houses)  as  also  of  the  priests  until  the  reign  of,'  &c. 

in  tlie  reigfn:  read,  'until  the  reign.'  Guthe  and  Bertholet 
are  wrong  when  they  adduce  the  Greek  and  Latin  version  for  this 
change  (one  letter  only),  for  they  have  all  (including  Luc,  en) 
evidently  followed  the  LXX,  as  does  the  Syr,,  showing  that  the 
corruption  is  old. 

Darius  the  Persian,  i.  e.  Darius  Codomannus  (336-331).  His 
being  called  the  Persian  is  often,  since  Ewald,  held  to  suggest  a  date 
for  this  paragraph  at  least  subsequent  to  the  cessation  of  the  Persian 
rule,  though  Winckler  denies  this :  see  p.  19  f.,  and  on  Ezra  i.  i. 

23.  Render,  '  Of  the  Levites  the  heads  of,'  &c. 

sons  of  I.evi=  Levites.  Cf.  'sons  of  Israel '  =  ' Israelites ' 
(see  on  Ezra  vi.  91. 

book  of  the  chronicles:  lit.  'things  of  the  days,'  i.  e.  'daily 
records,' the  Hebrew  name  of  our  books  of  Chronicles.     As  the 


266  NEHEMIAH  12.  34,35.     Tr 

24  until  the  days  of  Johanan  the  son  of  EHashib.  And  the 
chiefs  of  the  Levites  :  Hashabiah,  Sherebiah,  and  Jeshua 
the  son  of  Kadmiel^  with  their  brethren  over  against  them, 
to  praise  and  give  thanks,  according  to  the  commandment 

35  of  David  the  man  of  God,  ward  against  ward.  Mattaniah, 

expression  is  a  common  one  for  official  records,  one  must  not 
hastily  conclude  that  the  canonical  books  of  Chronicles  are 
here  cited,  though  of  course  nothing  in  the  words  forbids  that 
interpretation. 

Tintil  the  days  of  Johanan :  this  would  seem  to  show 
that  the  records  in  question  were  completed  during  John's  tenure 
of  the  office  of  high-priest,  circa  380.  The  whole  of  the  Persian 
period  would  seem  to  have  been  embraced  in  these  records. 

son  (i.  e.  grandson)  of  Eliashib:  see  on  Ezra  v.  i,  vii.  1-5, 
and  viii.  2. 

24  f.  Levitical  chiefs.  Perhaps  the  names  in  these  verses  are 
from  the  '  annals '  (chronicles)  mentioned  in  ver.  23,  for  they  ex- 
tend to  a  later  date  than  Joiakim's  (v.  12). 

24.  Jeshua  the  son  of  Kadmiel :  read  (making  very  trivial 
changes  which  Luc.  and  LXX  favour),  *  Jeshua,  Binnui,  and  Kad- 
miel '  (see  ver.  8  and  x.  10).  Jeshua  was  the  son  of  Jozadak  or 
Jehozadak  (see  Ezra  iii.  2,  8). 

over  ag-ainst  them  :  see  on  ver.  i.  Probably  the  responding 
parties  in  theantiphonal  singing  were  arranged  opposite  each  other. 

to  praise :  the  root  of  the  verb  occurs  in  'Hallelujah,'  lit. 
'  praise  Yah.' 

and  give  thanks:  see  on  Ezra  x.  i.  Referring  to  the  sub- 
ject-matter, not  the  form  of  the  singing. 

according*  to  the  comnxandment  of  David  :  see  i  Chron. 
xvi.  4ff.,  XXV,  &c.  The  tradition  of  David  as  the  great  organizer 
of  Temple  music  is  fully  developed  in  Chronicles  (say  300  b.  c.^, 
but  it  must  have  taken  time  to  grow  and  become  a  part  of  the 
national  belief:  see  on  Ezra  iii.  10. 

the  man  of  G-od :  see  ver.  36  and  a  Chron.  viii.  14  ;  cf.  the 
title  to  Ps.  xviii.  It  is  impossible  to  say  for  certain  whether  the 
present  passage  or  that  in  Chronicles  is  the  earlier,  but  one  seems 
dependent  on  the  other. 

ward  against  ward:  see  on  ver.  9.  We  are  not  told  in 
Ezra-Nehemiah  into  how  many  courses  David  divided  the  priests 
and  Levites,  but  according  to  Chronicles  the  number  was  twenty- 
four  in  each  case  (see  i  Chron.  xxivf.).  We  seem  in  the  present 
book  to  have  the  tradition  of  David  the  musician  in  its  earlier  and 
simpler  form. 

25.  xi.  17  shows  thai  the  three  first  names  belong  to  the  list 


NEHEMIAH   12.  26.     T,,  267 

and  Bakbukiah,  Obadiah,  Meshullarri;,  Talmon,  Akkub, 
were  porters  keeping  the  ward  at  the  storehouses  of  the  26 
gates.     These  were  in  the  days  of  Joiakim  the  son  of 
Jeshua,  the  son  of  Jozadak,  and  in  the  days  of  Nehemiah 
the  governor,  and  of  Ezra  the  priest  the  scribe. 

in  ver.  24.      The  names   of  the  porters  (*  gatekeepers,'   see   on 
Ezra  ii.  42)  begin  with  Meshullam. 

keepingf  the  ward,  &c.  :  render,  '  keeping  watch  over  the 
storerooms  at  (i.  e.  near)  the  gates'  (of  the  Temple  area). 

27-43.     The  Dedication  of  the  Walls  of  Jerusalem. 

The  presence  of  the  '  I '  in  verses  31,  38,  40  shows  that  we  have 
to  do  here  with  the  Nehemiah  memoirs,  though  what  Nehemiah 
wrote  about  the  dedication  has  been  worked  over  by  later  editors 
— the  Chroniclers  perhaps.  The  words  'they  sought '  in  ver.  27 
prove  nothing  however,  though  they  are  constantly  quoted  by 
even  the  latest  critics  to  prove  that  the  writer  is  not  Nehemiah  ; 
'the  Levites  were  sought'  is  equally  possible  according  to  the 
Hebrew  (see  on  Ezra  x.  17. 

Of  course  there  are  here  many  features,  words,  and  expressions 
which  abound  in  Chronicles,  as  in  verses  35  f.,  41,  &c.,  but  it  is  im- 
possible to  pronounce  finally  when  these  features  arose  in  Hebrew 
literature. 

In  '  Chronicles  '  we  have  the  close  of  or  at  least  a  late  stage  in 
a  long  course  of  evolution  in  Hebrew  thought,  usage,  and  style  of 
language.  We  cannot  separate  ver.  30  from  ver.  31,  nor  verses  37, 
39  f.  from  ver.  38,  so  that  verses  31  f.,  37-40  can  be  proved  to  be 
by  Nehemiah,  and  are  accepted  as  such  by  Ryssel  (in  Kautzsch), 
Siegfried  and  Bertholet.  Ewald  *  and  Stade  ^  are  no  doubt  right  in 
recognizing  in  verses  27-43  a  genuine  extract  from  the  Nehe- 
miah memoirs,  though  later  editors  have  been  at  work  on  these 
verses. 

The  musical  references  in  this  chapter  are  commonly  fathered 
on  the  Chronicler,  but  it  is  time  to  acknowledge  that  everything 
of  the  kind  did  not  first  come  into  existence  in  the  time  of  the 
Chronicler.  The  fact  that  in  his  time  they  were  in  full  career  im- 
plies a  previous  period  of  development :  see  p.  16  f. 

Date  of  the  Dedication  of  the  Walls. 

It  is  exceedingly  likely  that  the  walls  were  dedicated  almost  im- 
mediately after  they  were  completed,  as  Stade  ^,  Bertholet,  and  most 
recent  critics  hold.     But  Rawlinson  *  and  Klostermann  •"'  maintain 

^   Gesch.^  iv.  205,  A3.         '^   Gesch.  ii.  176.         ^   Gesch.  ii.  175. 
*  On  xii.  27.  ^  Gesch.  265  f. 


268  NEHEMIAH  12.  27,  28.     C^- 

27  [Cx]  And  at  the  dedication  of  the  wall  of  Jerusalem 
they  sought  the  Levites  out  of  all  their  places,  to  bring 
them  to  Jerusalem,  to  keep  the  dedication  with  gladness, 
both  with  thanksgivings,  and  with  singing,  with  cymbals, 

28  psalteries^  and  with  harps.     And  the  sons  of  the  singers 

that  the  dedication  took  place  some  twelve  years  after  their 
completion,  i.  e.  after  Nehemiah's  second  visit  to  Jerusalem  in  432. 
The  close  connexion  of  verses  27-43  with  the  next  chapter  and  the 
personal  allusion  in  xiii.  6  are  said  to  require  this  late  date.  More- 
over, Nehemiah's  return  has  been  explained  as  due  to  his  desire 
to  have  the  king's  approval  for  the  ceremony  of  the  dedication. 

But  one  is  allowed  to  deny  the  cogency  of  this  reasoning,  which 
is  based  mainly  on  subjective  considerations.  The  walls  were 
finished  in  vi.  16,  and  (removing  vii.  73^-x  to  the  close  of  Ezra) 
the  intervening  events  do  not  require  more  than  a  few  months. 
One  may  perhaps  infer  from  2  Mace.  i.  18  that  Nehemiah  was  at 
that  time  (say  80  b.  c.)  supposed  to  have  dedicated  the  walls  on  the 
twenty-fifth  day  of  the  ninth  month  (Kislew).  Now  according  to 
Neh.  vi,  15  the  walls  were  completed  on  the  twenty-fifth  day  of 
the  sixth  month  (Elul).  It  is  not  unreasonable  to  think  that  exactly 
three  months  after  their  completion  the  walls  were  dedicated. 

27-30.  Gathering  of  musicians.  The  priests  and  Levites  purify 
themselves,  the  people,  and  the  city. 

27.  dedication :  Heb.  khenuka^  a  late  word,  non-occurrent  in 
pre-exilic  literature,  though  the  cognate  verb  occurs  in  Deut. 
XX,  5,  and  in  i  Kings  viii.  63.  Cf,  the  proper  name  'Enoch' 
(Heb.  iT/jawo/^  =:  dedicated  ?)  in  Gen.  iv.  17  f.  (J),  &c.  :  and  see  on 
Ezra  vi.  16. 

they  sought :  better  use  the  passive,  'the  Levites  were  sought,' 
&c.     In  Hebrew  it  is  the  impersonal  construction  (see  p.  103). 

By  the  Iievites  in  this  verse  we  are  to  understand  one  divi- 
sion only  of  them,  viz.  the  singers  (seep.  61), 

with  gladness :  a  rendering  (supported  by  Luc.')  involving 
a  slight  change  in  the  text. 

thanksgivings  (see  on  Ezra  iii.  11,  x.  i)  .  .  .  singfing:  these 
two  terms  express  respectively  the  theme  and  (Ij'rical)  form  of  the 
words  used.     Pss.  cxxii,  cxlvii  have  been  suggested. 

psalteries  .  .  .  harps :  better,  '  harps  , . .  lyres  '  (see  Psalms, 
vol.  ii  {Centwy  Bible),  p.  28.  For  the  instruments  named  see 
I  Chron.  xiii.  8. 

28.  Render,  '  And  the  Levites  (so  Luc,  Guthe,  and  ?  Ber- 
tholet)  and  the  singers  gathered  themselves  together,  from  the 
plain  of  the  Jordan  and  from  round  about  Jerusalem,'  &c. 

sons  of  the  singers  :  render,  *  singers'  (see  on  Ezra  ii.  41), 


NEHEMIAH  12.  29-31.     Cv  269 

gathered  themselves  together^  both  out  of  the  ^  plain 
round  about  Jerusalem,  and  from  the  villages  of  the 
Netophathites;  also  from  Beth-gilgal^and  out  of  the  fields  29 
of  Geba  and  Azmaveth  :  for  the  singers  had  builded 
them  villages  round  about  Jerusalem.  And  the  priests  30 
and  the  Levites  purified  themselves ;  and  they  purified 
the  people,  and  the  gates,  and  the  wall.    Then  I  brought  31 

*  Or,  Circuit 

In  Hebrew  the  words  rendered  '  son  '  and  '  sons  '  denote  one  or 
more  of  a  specified  class.  Thus  '  a  son  of  man  {Adam)  '  = '  a  man,' 
'sons  of  man'  (or  '  men ')  =  '  men.'  In  Syriac  'son  of  man'  is 
almost  invariably  used  for  '  man.' 

These  singers  are  identical  with  the  Levites  (see  the  render- 
ing above  and  ver.  27). 

both:  the  Heb.  word  (waw)  is  that  usually  translated  'and,' 
and  should  (with  Luc.)  be  placed  immediateh^  before  'round 
about,'  &c.,  as  the  sense  requires  (see  rendering  above). 

plain:  the  Heb.  word  {kikkar,  lit.  'circuit')  is  the  technical 
term  for  the  district  around  the  lower  Jordan.  There  is  no  diffi- 
culty here  or  in  iii.  22  (see  on)  arising  out  of  the  distance,  for 
the  Jordan  is  only  some  twenty-two  English  miles  from  Jerusalem, 

Netophathites  :  men  from  Netophah  (see  on  Ezra  ii.  22). 

29.  Beth-Efilg'al :  nowhere  else  mentioned.  Since  beih  (lit. 
'house')  means  often  'place,'  'situation,'  we  are  probably  to 
understand  '  the  neighbourhood  of  Gilgal' ;  cf.  'fields'  (='open 
country')  'of  Geba  '  (see  on  Ezra  ii.  26). 

Azmaveth  :  see  on  Ezra  ii.  24. 

30.  the  priests  and  the  Zievites  :  the  post-exilic  usage ;  cf. 
'the  priests  the  Levites'  in  D. 

purified  themselves  :  by  sprinkling  on  themselves  sacri- 
ficial blood  (see  2  Chron.  xxix.  20-24  ;  Ezek.  xliii.  19  ;  cf.  Ezra  vi. 
10).  Priests,  Levites,  people,  gales,  and  wall  had  all  to  undergo 
the  same  ceremony  of  purification,  as  all  were  to  be  used  in  holy 
service.  Of  course  it  is  ritual  purification,  that  is  meant,  a  con- 
ception brought  out  very  prominently  in  Lev.  xvii-xxvi  (H)  and 
Ezek.  xl-xlviii. 

31-43.  The  procession  around  the  walls.  The  company  of  priests 
and  Levites  and  princes  formed  themselves  into  two  companies 
near  the  Valley  Gate,  one  proceeding  towards  the  right  along  the 
southern  and  eastern  wall,  the  other  to  the  left  along  the  western 
and  northern  wall,  the  two  companies  meeting  in  an  open  space 
east  of  the  Temple. 

31-37.  Procession    of  the    right-hand  party.      Where   was  the 


270  NEHEMIAH   12.  31.     C^ 

up  tlie  princes  of  Judah  upon  the  wall^  and  appointed 
two  great  companies  that  gave  thanks  and  went  in  pro- 
general  rendezvous  whence  the  two  bands  started  their  circuit  of 
the  walls  ?  We  are  not  told,  but  the  context  makes  it  extremely' 
likely  that  it  was  some  point  near  the  Valley  Gate  (see  on  ii.  13) 
as  Stade  surmised  ^  It  was  from  this  gate  that  Nehemiah  com- 
menced his  tour  of  inspection  (see  ii.  13),  and  this  might  have 
suggested  the  starting-point  of  the  present  dedicatory  procession. 
The  course  of  the  procession  was  as  follows  : — 

1.  The  Valley  Gate  (?}. 

2.  Southward  (ver.  31). 

3.  After  reaching  the  southernmost  point  a  turn  was  made  to 
the  west  and  the  journey  continued  to  the  Dung  Gate,  which  was 
a  little  to  the  north  (v.  31). 

4.  From  the  Dung  Gate  the  Fountain  Gate  w^as  reached  (ver.  37), 
from  which  point,  instead  of  following  the  direction  of  the  wall,  a 
march  almost  direct  northward  seems  to  have  been  made,  perhaps 
because  henceforward  the  road  along  the  wall  was  too  narrow  to 
hold  the  company,  or  because  the  tour  round  would  require  too 
much  time  to  allow  of  the  meeting  of  the  parties  at  the  place 
arranged  (ver.  37\ 

5.  Taking  the  direct  way  to  the  north  (•'  straight  before  them,' 
ver.  37),  they  go  as  far  as  the  Water  Gate,  ascending  the  steps 
leading  across  Ophel  to  the  city.  The  processioning  companies 
seem  to  have  come  together  at  the  Guard  Gate  (see  on  ver.  39). 

31.  princes  (i.  e.  leaders)  of  Judah:  see  on  Ezra  ix.  i. 

upon  (the  wall)  :  so  the  compound  preposition  is  rightly 
rendered  here  (as  in  2  Chron.  xiii.  4  ;  Jonah  iv.  6);  thus  Keil, 
Reuss,  Rawl.,  Oettli,  Meinhold,  Ryle. 

But  Siegfried  and  Bertholet  hold  that  the  right  rendering  is 
*  beyond  '  or  '  above  '  the  wall,  i.  e.  at  a  point  higher  than  the  wall 
but  not  on  it. 

companies  .  .  .  right  hand :  render,  '  companies '  (M.T. 
'thanksgivings'),  'and  the  first  went  to  the  right  hand,'  &c.  A 
change  in  the  Heb.  of  two  words  (one  occurring  nowhere  else  and 
certainly  corrupt)  is  all  that  is  necessary  for  this  rendering. 

companies  that  gave  thanks :  the  one  Heb.  word  so  ren. 
dered  is  translated  everywhere  except  in  this  chapter  '  thanks- 
giving,' *  praise,' and  the  like  (see  on  Ezra  iii.  11  and  x.  i  for  the 
verb)  ;  but  as  '  appointed  two  thanksgivings'  gives  no  sense  most 
ancient  and  modern  translators  have  assumed  without  reason  that 
in  this  section  the  noun  means  a  'company  giving  thanks.'  The 
present  writer  thinks  the  text  is  wrong,  and  that  instead  of  tddot 


Gesch.  ii.  175. 


NEHEMIAH  12.  33-34.     C^  i^t 

cession ;  ivhereof  one  went  on  the  right  hand  upon  the 
wall  toward  the  dung  gate:  and  after  them  went  Hoshaiah^  g2 
and  half  of  the  princes  of  Judah^  and   Azariah,  Ezra,  33 
and  Meshullani,  Judah.and  Benjamin,  and  Shemaiah,and  34 


(thanksgivings)  we  should  read  'edot  (companies),  the  word  used 
of  the  company  of  Korah  ^Num.  xxvi.  9,  xxvii.  3)  ;  of  Job's  circle 
of  dependants  (Job  xvi.  7),  and  especially  of  the  congregation  of 
Israel  lit.  '  a  company  assembled  by  appointment ' ).  Any  Hebraist 
will  see  how  easily  the  two  words  could  be  confounded.  The 
Syr.  seems  to  follow  the  text  now  for  the  first  time  restored,  for 
it  translates  by  kennshata—  '  companies.' 

and  went  in  procession :  the  one  Heb.  word  here  used 
occurs  nowhere  else.  Read  ^making  a  slight  change",  'and  the 
one  I  or  the  first)  went*  (on  the  right  hand).  There  is  then  no 
need  for  italics. 

rigrht  hand :  i.  e.  the  south  (see  i  Sam.  xxiii.  24).  Tlie 
Hebrews  named  the  four  quarters  of  the  heavens  according  to  the 
position  of  one  gazing  to  the  east  a  survival,  perhaps,  of  sun- 
worship).  Thus  left  hand  =  north  (Joshua  xix.  27,  &c.),  the  front 
^  east,  and  the  hinder  part  =  west  (see  Isa.  ix.  11). 

But  they  named  these  also  on  other  principles.  Thus  the  east  is 
often  called  the  direction  of  sun-rising  [mizrakh),  the  west  the 
'  sea '  :because  the  Mediterranean  was  west  of  Palestine),  the 
south  darom  (=  ?),  and  Negeb,  the  dry  (i.  e.  sunny)  part,  the  north 
having  usually  the  designation  saphon^  '  the  hidden '  (from  the 
light  of  the  sun)  'part.' 

dung"  g-ate  :  see  on  ii.  13. 

32.  (after)  them  :  i.  e.  the  musicians. 

Hoshaiah  :  we  know  nothing  further  of  him,  though  he 
appears  as  the  leader  of  the  princes  in  this  company,  as  Nehemiah 
was  in  the  other  company,  another  illustration  of  the  defective 
state  of  our  knowledge  of  the  period.  Perhaps,  however,  we  are 
to  think  of  a  house  so  called  and  not  of  one  man. 

33.  and  Azariah  .  .  .  Jeremiah :  these  seven  names  repre- 
sent priestly  houses  corresponding  to  the  seven  priestly  houses  in 
the  other  company  (see  ver.  41).  The  text  has  fallen  into  some 
confusion.  So  Guthe,  Bertholet.  Princes'  houses  are  not  mentioned. 

Azariah  .  .  .  Meshullam:  mentioned  among  the  priestly 
houses  which  signed  the  covenant   see  x.  3,  8). 

Ezra:  a  house  or  family  so  called    see  verses  i,  13  ;  cf.  x.  2). 

34.  Judah  .  .  .  Benjamin  :  these  tribal  names  stand  here  for 
houses.  Bertholet  regards  the  occurrence  of  these  names  as  a 
proof  of  the  unhistorical  character  of  the  whole  list, 

Shemaiah :  see  ver.  6. 


272  NEHEMIAH  12.  35-37.     C^ 

35  Jeremiah^  and  certain  of  the  priests'  sons  with  trumpets : 
Zechariah  the  son  of  Jonathan^  the  son  of  Shemaiah,  the 
son  of  Mattaniah,  the  son  of  Micaiah,  the  son  of  Zaccur^ 

36  the  son  of  Asaph  ;  and  his  brethren,  Shemaiah,  and 
Azarel,  Milalai,  Gilalai,  Maai,  Nethanel,  and  Judah, 
Hanani,  with  the  musical  instruments  of  David  the  man 

37  of  God ;  and  Ezra  the  scribe  was  before  them :  and  by 
the  fountain  gate,  and  straight  before  them,  they  went  up 
by  the  stairs  of  the  city  of  David,  at  the  going  up  of  the 

Jeremiah :  see  verses  i,  13  and  x.  3. 

35.  priests'  sons:  render 'priests,' and  see  on  ver.  28.  We 
have  the  names  of  these  priestly  houses  in  verses  33  f.  (see  on 
ver.  34\ 

with  tnunpets :  see  on  Ezra  iii.  10. 

Zechariah :  here,  as  being  Asaphite,  the  clan  cannot  be 
priestly  as  one  of  the  same  name  in  the  other  company  is  (see 
ver.  41).    See  on  ver,  34. 

36.  Milalai  :  we  should  probably  (with  Luc)  omit  this 
name  as  a  dittograph  of  Gilalai  (more  aUke  in  Hebrew  than  in 
English).  We  then  get  eight  Asaphite  names,  as  in  the  other 
company  (ver.  42). 

with  the  musical  instruments  to  the  end  of  the  verse 
is  thought  by  Meyer  ^,  Siegfried,  and  Bertholet  to  be  an  addi- 
tion by  the  Chronicler,  who  out  of  respect  to  Ezra  (though  he  is 
not  once  mentioned  in  '  Chronicles')  gives  him  here  an  important 
position.  Certainly  the  introduction  of  Ezra's  name  here  is  un- 
historical,  if  the  individual  is  meant,  and  in  any  case  the  role 
assigned  to  Ezra  here  has  been  already  alloted  to  Hoshaiah  (ver.  32). 
A  late  editor,  living  at  a  time  when  Ezra  came  to  be  regarded  as 
the  second  Moses,  desired  to  give  him  a  position  in  this  com- 
pany similar  to  that  of  Nehemiah  in  the  party  of  the  left  hand. 
The  man  Ezra  nowhere  appears  in  the  present  context. 
David  the  man  of  God :  see  ver.  24, 

37.  fountain  gate  :  see  on  ii.  15. 

straight  hefore  them:  instead  of  following  the  course  of 
the  walls  the  procession  now  strikes  a  path  due  north,  though  for 
what  reason  we  are  not  told  (see  p.  270}. 

stairs,  &c.  :  see  on  iii.  15. 

city  of  David:  see  on  iii.  15. 

at  the  going  up,  &c.  :  at  a  part  of  the  wall  that  covered  an 
elevation  of  ground. 

^  Die  Entstehung,  &c.,  p.  200. 


NEHEMIAH  12.  38,  39.     C^.  273 

wall,  above  the  house  of  David,  even  unto  the  water  gate 
eastward.  And  the  other  company  of  them  that  gave  38 
thanks  went  to  meet  them,  and  I  after  them,  with  the 
half  of  the  people,  upon  the  wall,  above  the  tower  of 
the  furnaces,  even  unto  the  broad  wall ;  and  above  the  39 
gate  of  Ephraim,  and  by  the  old  gate,  and  by  the  fish 
gate,  and  the  tower  of  Hananel,  and  the  tower  of  '»  Ham- 

^  Or,  The  hundred 

above  the  house  of  David :  i.  e.  the  traditional  site,  some 
ruins  of  which  were  then  perhaps  to  be  seen.  It  is  possible  that 
some  well-known  private  house  had  this  name. 

The  party  leaves  the  wall  at  the  ascent  referred  to,  passing 
northwards  by  the  site  of  the  royal  palace.  Kent  denies  that  the 
procession  left  the  wall  at  all  until  the  other  company  was 
reached  ;  but  he  depends  for  proof  on  notions  of  Jerusalem 
topography  which  are  now  universally  discarded. 

above  (the  house,  &c.)  :  we  have  here  in  Hebrew  the  same 
combination  of  prepositions  as  that  rendered  *  upon  '  in  ver.  31 
(see  on). 

38-43.  Procession  of  the  left-hand  (^northern)  party. 

38.  company  of  them  that  gave  thanks :  read  '  company,' 
and  see  on  ver.  31. 

went :  follows  a  slightly  but  rightly  corrected  text. 

to  meet  them  :  read  (making  a  small  change)  '  on  the  left ' 
(  =  to  the  north  :  see  on  ver.  31).  The  Hebrew  word  in  the  M.T. 
is  in  its  present  form  a  monstrosity,  and  has  no  meaning. 

with  the  half  of  the  people  :  i.  e.  as  many  princes,  priests, 
and  Levites  as  belonged  to  the  right-hand  party  (see  32  ff.). 
There  is  not  the  slightest  need  (with  Guthe.  Bertholet,  and  Lohr) 
to  read  *  with  the  half  of  the  princes  of  the  people.'  The  half 
extends  here  to  all  the  classes  enumerated  in  32  ff. 

above  :  i.  e.  some  distance  from  ;  the  same  double  preposition 
translated  *  upon'  in  ver.  31  (see  on). 

tower  of  the  furnaces:  see  on  iii.  11. 

broad  wall:  see  on  iii.  8. 

39.  gate  of  Ephraim :  see  on  iii.  6.  As  it  is  not  mentioned 
in  Nehemiah's  tour  of  inspection  the  word  above  (the  gate,  &c.) 
implies  probably  that  this  gate  did  not  lie  in  line  with  the  wall 
here  spoken  of,  but  some  distance  to  the  south. 

the  old  gate  :  see  on  iii.  6. 
fish  gate  :  sec  on  iii.  3. 

tower  of  Kanauel  .  .  .  tower  of  Hammeah  .  ;  .  sheep  gate : 
sec  on  iii.  i. 

T    2 


2  74  NEHEMIAH  12.  40-43.     Cs, 

meah,  even  unto  the  sheep  gate :  and  they  stood  still  in 

40  the  gate  of  the  guard.  So  stood  the  two  companies  of 
them  that  gave  thanks  in  the  house  of  God^  and  I^  and 

41  the  half  of  the  ^  rulers  with  me  :  and  the  priests,  Eliakim, 
Maaseiah,  Miniamin,  Micaiah,  Elioenai,  Zechariah,  and 

42  Hananiah^  with  trumpets ;  and  Maaseiah,  and  Shemaiah, 
and  Eleazar,  and  Uzzi^  and  Jehohanan,  and  Malchijah, 
and  Elam,  and  Ezer.      And  the  singers  sang  loud,  with 

43  Jezrahiah  their  overseer.  And  they  offered  great  sacri- 
fices that  day,  and  rejoiced  ;  for  God  had  made  them 
rejoice  with  great  joy;  and  the  women  also  and  the 
children  rejoiced  :  so  that  the  joy  of  Jerusalem  was  heard 

even  afar  off. 

*  Or,  deputies 

stood  still:  better, 'entered' :  see  on  Ezraiii.  10;  cf.  next  verse. 

g"ate  of  the  gfuard  :  better,  '  prison  gate.'  This  cannot  be 
the  wall  gate  leading  directly  into  the  guard  court  (see  on  iii.  25), 
for  that  would  fix  it  too  much  to  the  south.  Probably  we  are  to 
understand  the  'gate  of  Hammephkad  '  (see  on  iii.  31),  i.  e.  the 
gate  opposite  to  the  prison,  and  it  is  likely  that  the  original 
Hebrew  text  read  accordingly,  the  beginning  of  both  names  being 
identical.  The  Hebrew  word  has  come  into  the  present  text 
through  the  influence  of  iii.  25. 

40.  stood :  see  on  ver.  39.  The  two  bands  entered  the  Prison 
Gate  and  formed  one  company  in  the  Temple  area. 

companies  of  them  that  g'ave  thanks  :  read  '  companies,' 
and  see  on  ver.  31. 

in  the  house  of  God :  to  be  attached  to  the  preceding  verb 
'  entered  '  ■  E.VV,  stood). 

In  verses  40-42  we  have  the  same  order  as  in  the  description  of 
the  procession  of  the  right-hand  (south)  party  :  (i)  The  musicians, 
(2)  Nehemiah  and  half  the  rulers,  (3)  Priests,  (4)  Levites. 

41.  with  trumpets:   see  on  Ezra  iii.  10. 

42.  sang*  loud  :  Ut.,  'caused  i^those  round  about)  to  hear'  :  see 

1  Chron.  xv.   19. 

43.  great  sacrifices :  see  Ezra  vi.  1 7. 

God  had  made  them  rejoice  :  see  viii,  12,  17  ;  Ezra  vi.  22  ; 

2  Chron.  xx.  27. 

women  .  .  .  children  :  see  viii.  2,  x.  29. 
joy  :  i.  e.  its  manifestation. 
afar  oflf :  see  Ezra  iii.  13. 


NEHEMIAH   12.  44,  45.     Cv  275 

And  on  that  day  were  men  appointed  over  the  44 
chambers  for  the  treasures^  for  the  heave  offerings^  for 
the  firstfruits,,  and  for  the  tithes,  to  gather  into  them, 
according  to  the  fields  of  the  cities, the  portions  « appointed 
by  the  law  for  the  priests  and  Levites  :  for  Judah  rejoiced 
for  the  priests  and  for  the  Levites  that  ^waited.  And  they  45 
*  Heb,  of  the  law.  ^  Heb.  stood. 

44-47.  Provision  for  the  Support  of  the  Temple  Officials. 
This  section  bears  in  a  special  degree  the  marks  of  late  editing, 
as  do  the  following  three  verses,  and  Kosters,  Torrey,  Meyer, 
and  Bertholet  have  no  hesitation  in  ascribing  ver.  44-xiii.  3  to 
the  Chronicler  as  a  kind  of  historical  support  for  xiii.  4ff.,  10  ft. ; 
see  especially  ver.  47. 

44.  Those  appointed  over  the  treasure  chambers  in  this  verse 
had  to  see  that  the  Temple  dues  brought  were  safely  housed, 
whereas  the  *  treasurers  '  in  xiii.  13  were  to  preside  over  the 
distribution  of  what  was  brought. 

chambers,  or  'cells':  see  on  iii.  30  and  Ezra  viii.  29. 
treasures  ( =  stores)  and  heave  offerings  seem  both  general 
terms,  the  second  restricting  the  first  to  such  as  were  sacred 
offerings,  and  the  latter  being  further  defined  as  '  firstfruits,'  &c. 

heave  offering's :  better  '  sacred  gifts  '  or  '  contributions ' : 
see  on  x.  37. 

firstfrtiits :  see  x,  38,  where  the  same  Hebrew  word  occurs, 
and  on  x.  37,  where  another  Hebrew  word  (' first  ripe  fruits'), 
often  similarly  translated,  is  found. 

tithes  :  see  on  x.  37  f. 

according  to  the  fields,  &c.  :  the  gifts  were  sorted  in  the 
chambers  according  to  the  localities  which  supplied  them.  The 
Versions  and  many  MSS.  read  'according  to  the  princes,' &c. 

the  portions  :  see  ver.  47.  The  Hebrew  word  is  written 
rather  peculiarly,  but  no  difference  is  meant,  and  the  variations  of 
spelling  are  explainable. 

Judah  rejoiced :  a  very  naive  remark  if  (as  seems  likely)  we 
are  to  see  here  the  hand  of  a  priest. 

that  waited :  lit.  *  that  stood  '  :  see  i  Chron.  vi.  32  f.  (Heb., 
verses  17 f.).   and  for  the  full  phrase  'to  stand  before  Yahweh ' 
(='to  serve')  see  Deut.  x.  8.     It  is  generally  used  of  the  priests 
when  performing  their  duties  in  the  Temple.     Cf.  Milton's 
'  They  also  serve  who  stand  and  wait.' 

('On  his  BHndness.') 

45.  See  2  Chron.  xiii.  it.  Render,  'And  they  took  charge  of 
the  service  of  their  God  and  of  the  purification,'  &c. 


276  NEHEMIAH  12.46,47.     Q 

kept  the  ward  of  their  God^  and  the  ward  of  the  purifica- 
tion, and  so  did  the  singers  and  the  porters,  according  to 
the  commandment  of  David,  and  of  Solomon  his  son. 

46  For  in  the  days  of  David  and  Asaph  of  old  ^  there  was  a 
chief  of  the  singers,  and  songs  of  praise  and  thanks- 

47  giving  unto  God.  And  all  Israel  in  the  days  of 
Zerubbabel,  and  in  the  days  of  Nehemiah,  gave  the 
portions  of  the  singers  and  the  porters,  as  every  day 
required :  and  they  sanctified  for  the  Levites ;  and  the 
Levites  sanctified  for  the  sons  of  Aaron. 

^  Another  reading  is,  there  were  chiefs. 


kept  the  ward  :  lit.  '  thej^  kept  the  thing  to  be  kept.'  The 
verb  has  often  the  meaning  '  to  discharge  the  duties  of  an  office,' 
especially  of  the  priesthood  :  see  Num.  iii.  10,  xviii.  7,  &c. 
Hence  the  verb  with  its  cognate  noun,  as  here,  Lev.  viii.  35,  &c., 
means  simply  to  perform  the  duties  entrusted  to  them  as  priests, 
Levites,  &c. 

purification:  see  i  Chron.  xxiii.  28. 

according*  to  the  commandment  of  David  and  of  Solomon : 
see  I  Chron.  xxiii-xxvi  ;  2  Chron.  viii.  14. 

46.  Render,  '  For  in  the  days  of  David  Asaph  in  the  olden 
time  was  chief,'  &c. 

and  (Asaph) :  omit  with  the  Greek  (both  LXX  and  Luc), 
Syriac,  and  Vulgate  versions  and  one  Hebrew  Cod.  The  two 
time  references  seem  redundant.  Bertholet  renders,  *  For  in  the 
days  of  David  and  Asaph  the  chiefs  (adding  the  consonant)  of  the 
singers  were  appointed  (inserting  one  letter  in  the  Hebrew  word 
rendered  of  old)  (with  reference  to)  the  songs  of  praise,'  &c. 
But  with  the  changes  he  proposes  the  last  part  of  the  verse  hangs 
in  the  air,  '  and  songs,'  &c. 

For  chief  the  qr,  Vulg.,  and  many  MSS.  read  the  plural 
'chiefs.' 

47.  The  editor  wishes  to  make  it  quite  plain  that  from  the 
time  of  Zerubbabel  to  that  of  Nehemiah  the  Temple  dues  were 
paid. 

sanctified:  i.e.  set  apart:  see  Luke  xxvii.  14,  16  ff.;  i  Chron. 
xxvi.  27. 

sons  of  Aaron:  i.e.  Aaronites,  P's  word  for  the  priests 
proper  as  distinct  from  the  Levites.  Ezekiel's  term  is  *  Zadokites ' 
(or  sons  of  Zadok). 


NEHEMIAH  13.  i.     U  277 

[U]  On  that  day  they  read  in  the  book  of  Moses  in  13 
the  audience  of   the    people ;    and    therein   was    found 
written,  that  an  Ammonite  and  a  Moabite  should  not 

XIII.  For  general  remarks  as  to  the  relation  of  this  chapter  to 
ch.  X  see  pp.  242  ff. 

1-3.  Exclusion  of  the  mixed  multihide. 

This  section  supplies  an  excellent  introduction  to  verses  4-9, 
and,  whether  or  not  by  Nehemiali,  was  placed  where  it  is  because 
it  refers  to  the  law  which  was  Nehemiah's  authority  in  excluding 
Tobiah  (the  Ammonite)  from  the  Temple  chamber. 

Many  would  remove  these  three  verses  from  their  present  setting. 
W.  Robertson  Smith',  followed  essentially  by  Geissler'^,  and  at 
one  time  by  Bertholet^  would  insert  verses  if.  between  Ezra  ix. 
9  and  ID,  or  thereabouts.  Kosters  thought  verses  1-3  should  intro- 
duce Neh.  ix  f.,  while  Marquart  would  join  the  whole  of  xiii  to 
Ezra  ix  f.  But  one  may  expect  the  law  to  have  been  read  by 
other  leaders  than  Ezra,  and,  indeed,  as  often  as  the  conduct  of  the 
people  called  for  special  reference  to  its  requirements.  There  is 
surely  no  necessity  to  think  that  the  evil  of  mixed  marriages  was 
dealt  with  on  only  one  or  two  special  occasions  in  the  life  of  Ezra 
and  Nehemiah.  Moreover,  the  steps  which  are  now  taken  differ 
from  anything  previously  done,  and  the  Scripture  referred  to  is  also 
different.  The  walls  had  been  dedicated  and  certain  regulations 
made  for  the  support  of  the  clergy  of  all  grades  (xii.  44-47) — what 
more  natural  than  to  set  about  the  purification  of  the  community 
from  all  non- Jewish  elements  ? 

If  we  are  to  remove  verses  1-3,  the  most  suitable  place  for 
them  next  to  their  present  one  is  after  ver.  9,  so  that  Nehemiah's 
treatment  of  Tobiah  would  supply  the  occasion  for  the  course 
described  in  ver.  3.  The  words  '  before  this,'  &c.,  might  have 
been  inserted  after  verses  1-3  got  to  be  where  they  are. 

1.   On  that  day:  the  reference  is  general,  as  in  xii.  44,  unless 
verses  1-3  are  placed  after  ver.  9,  in  which  case  the  day  when 
Nehemiah  excluded  Tobiah  will  be  meant. 
in  the  "book  of  Moses  :  see  on  viii.  i. 

found  written  :  i.  e.  in  Deut.  xxiii.  3-5.  Note  the  large  use 
made  in  Ezra-Nehemiah  of  Deuteronomy. 

Ammonite :  Tobiah  (see  verses  4  ff.)  was  an  Ammonite  : 
see  on  ii.  10. 

Moabite:  Bertholet  thinks  that  Sanballat  was  a  Moabite 
and  that  he  is  in  the  writer's  mmd  here.  But  it  is  unlikely  that 
he  was  a  Moabite  at  all.     See  on  ii.  xo. 

^  OTJCS'^)  427,  n  2.  =^  p.  45.  ^  On  Deut.  xxiii.  4-7. 


278  NEHEMIAH  13.  2-4.     UN 

2  enter  into  the  assembly  of  God  for  ever ;  because  they 
met  not  the  children  of  Israel  with  bread  and  with 
water,  but  hired  Balaam  against  them^  to  curse  them  : 

3  howbeit  our  God  turned  the  curse  into  a  blessing.  And  it 
came  to  pass^  when  they  had  heard  the  law,  that  they 

4  separated  from  Israel  all  the  mixed  multitude. 

[N]    Now  before  this,  Eliashib  the  priest,   who  was 

the  assemMy  (of  God) :  see  on  Ezra  ii.  64,  where  the  same 
word  is  translated  *  congregation.' 

2.  because  they  met  not,  &c. :  Ammonites  and  Moabites  are 
excluded  here  on  the  ground  of  an  historical  episode,  but  accord- 
ing to  Deut.  xxiii.  2  (cf.  with  Gen.  xix.  30  ff.  (J))  as  the  children 
of  incest,  the  latter  ground  being  the  more  ancient. 

3.  the  mixed  mtatitnde  :  the  Hebrew  word  here  (^ereb) 
occurs  nowhere  else  in  Ezra-Nehemiah,  a  reason  for  regarding 
this  as  a  section  apart  from  what  has  preceded.  In  Jer.  xxv.  20 
the  word  is  used  of  the  foreign  population  settled  in  Egypt  for 
trade  and  other  purposes.  In  Jer.  1.  37  and  in  Ezek.  xxx.  5 
(though  Cornill  reads  'Arabs'  in  the  latter  passage)  it  denotes 
foreigners  residing  in  Babylon.  Apart  from  the  immediate  con- 
nexion one  might  conclude  from  general  usage  that  the  word 
means  here  non-Jews  in  and  around  Jerusalem  who  had  some 
kind  of  status  in  the  community  (or  assembly)  of  Yahweh.  But 
in  the  light  of  the  context  we  must  interpret  the  word  to  mean 
all  whose  pure  Jewish  blood  had  been  in  anj'  way  compromised 
by  mixed  marriages,  though  the  latter  might  have  belonged  to 
a  former  and  even  a  remote  generation.  Meyer  ^,  altering  the 
vowels  of  the  word,  reads  '  Arabs,'  i.  e.  Bedouin  Arabs.  But  to 
speak  of  the  separation  of  Israel  from  the  Arabs,  especially  after 
the  allusion  to  Ammonites  and  Moabites,  would  seem  passing 
strange  !  The  word  in  the  sense  here  imphed  occurs  only  in  the 
passages  mentioned  above.  In  Lev.  xiii.  52,  &c.  (P)  it  denotes 
the  woof  of  a  garment. 

4-9.   Tobiah' s  possessions  cast  out  of  the  Temple  chamber  (cell). 

About  433  B.  c.  Nehemiah  had  for  some  unknown  reason 
returned  to  the  court  at  Susa.  During  his  absence  many  irregu- 
larities had  arisen,  and  in  the  remainder  of  this  chapter  we  have 
an  account  of  measures  adopted  after  his  return  for  removing 
some  of  them.  Since  the  sacred  dues  had  ceased  to  be  paid  (see 
verses  10-13)  the  chambers  were  no  longer  required  for  their 
usual  purposes,  so  that  Tobiah  had  been  allowed  to  occupy  two 

^  p.  130- 


NEHEMIAH   13.  5.     N  279 

appointed  over  the  ^  chambers  of  the  house  of  our  God, 
being  allied  unto  Tobiah,  had  prepared  for  him  a  great  5 
chamber,  where  aforetime  they  laid  the  meal  offerings, 
the  frankincense,  and  the  vessels,  and  the  tithes  of  the 
*  Heb.  chamber. 

or  more,  making  them  one  large  one  :  see  ver.  5.  Tobiah  was 
doubly  disqualified  for  using  the  chambers  in  the  Temple 
enclosure,  for  he  was  neither  a  priest  nor  Levite,  nor  was  he  even 
a  Jew  see  on  ii.  10). 

4.  Eliashlb  the  priest:  it  is  agreed  among  scholars  that  the 
well-known  high-priest  of  that  name  is  meant  i^see  on  Ezra  x.  6), 
though  Herzfeld  ^  denies  this.  It  is  possible  that  the  word  '  high ' 
has  fallen  out  before  priest.  As  regards  his  having  charge  of 
the  Temple  chambers  (cells),  we  know  too  little  of  the  duties  of 
the  priesthood  and  high-priesthood  of  the  time  to  conclude  that 
the  office  here  ascribed  to  Eliashib  shows  he  was  but  an  ordinarj' 
priest  taking  his  turn  with  other  priests. 

cliambers  :  see  on  Ezra  viii.  29. 

'being'  allied,  &c. :  no  one  knows  how,  though  many  con- 
jectures have  been  hazarded  :  see  Ber.-Rys.,  Winckler^,  and  Rj'le. 

5.  a  great  chamber  :  probably  two  or  more  smaller  ones  had 
been  thrown  into  one  by  the  removal  of  the  separating  walls.  In 
these  chambers,  before  they  had  been  made  one,  sacred  gifts  of 
various  kinds  had  been  stored,  but  now  these  had  been  put  away 
to  make  room  for  Tobiah's  '  household  stuff'  (ver.  8). 

meal  offerings  :  render,  '  offerings.'  The  word  has  here,  as  in 
Malachi,  the  general  sense  which  it  bears  in  the  older  codes.  In  P 
it  denotes  cereal  as  opposed  to  flesh  offerings.  We  are  here,  there- 
fore, in  this  verse  at  an  earlier  stage  of  custom  and  law  than  that 
which  meets  us  in  P  and  related  writings  (^Chron.  &c.)  :  see  p.  18  f. 

frankincense  :  lit.  '  what  is  white,'  so  called  from  its  colour. 
Our  'Albion  'has  the  same  consonants  and  perhaps  (?)  the  same  ety- 
mology as  the  Hebrew  word  here  used  {lebonah).  The  word  stands 
strictly  for  a  sweet-smelling  gum  or  resin,  obtained  by  exudation 
from  various  species  of  the  Boswellia,  a  tree  closely  allied  to  the 
terebinth.  It  formed  one  ingredient  of  incense  (see  Exod.  xxx. 
34),  but  was  offered  also  alone  as  a  separate  species  of  sacrifice 
(see  Isa.  xliii.  23,  Ixvi.  3  ;  Jer.  vi.  20).  These  references  show  that 
the  present  passage  is  not  necessarily  later  than  Nehemiah's  time 
and  hardly  as  late  as  the  Priestly  Code.  The  word  translated 
*  incense '  {qetoref)  is  used  in  pre-exilic  writings  for  sacrificial 
smoke  and  nothing  else.  In  P  it  means  certain  spices  burnt  to 
afford  Yahweh  a  sweet  odour.     Such  sacrifices  as  these — frankin- 

^   Geschichte^'^K  ii.  146.  2  ^j/^_  Orient.  Forsch.  i.  233. 


28d  NEHEMIAH  13.  6-10.     N 

corn^  the  wine^  and  the  oil,  which  were  given  by  command- 
ment to  the  Levites,  and  the  singers,  and  the  porters  ; 

6  and  the  heave  offerings  for  the  priests.  But  in  all  this 
titfie  I  was  not  at  Jerusalem  :  for  in  the  two  and  thirtieth 
year  of  Artaxerxes  king  of  Babylon  I  went  unto  the 
king,  and  after  certain  days  asked  I  leave  of  the  king : 

7  and  I  came  to  Jerusalem,  and  understood  of  the  evil 
that  Eliashib  had  done  for  Tobiah,  in  preparing  him  a 

8  chamber  in  the  courts  of  the  house  of  God.  And  it  grieved 
me  sore :  therefore  I  cast  forth  all  the  household  stuff 

9  of  Tobiah  out  of  the  chamber.  Then  I  commanded,  and 
they  cleansed  the  chambers :  and  thither  brought  I  again 
the  vessels  of  the  house  of  God,  with  the  meal  offerings 

10  and  the  frankincense.     And  I  perceived  that  the  portions 

cense,  &c originated  among  the  Hebrews  and  Arabs  at  a  com- 
paratively late  period,  as  they  imply  an  advanced  stage  of  civiliza- 
tion and  consequent  luxury^. 
tithes  :  see  on  x.  32  f. 

6.  Artaxerxes  :  see  Ezra  vii.  i. 

Babylon:  to  the  Hebrews  this  city  would  continue  to 
appear  as  the  capital  of  the  Eastern  world. 

after  certain  days :  lit.  *  at  the  end  of  days,'  the  words 
being  used  vaguely  for  an  indefinite  period,  as  in  i  Kings  xvii.  7  ; 
cf.  Gen.  iv.  3.  Marquart  reads  'at  the  end  of  his  days,'  i,  e.  when 
the  time  of  his  furlough  had  expired. 

7.  chamber :  see  on  iii.  30. 

conrts:  read  (with  LXX,  Guthe,  &c.),  '  court.'  The  Temple 
court  is  meant. 

8.  household  stuff:  probably  what  is  chiefly,  if  not  exclu- 
sively', meant  is  the  vessels,  &c.,  used  in  sacrifice. 

10-14.  Nehcmiah  re-establishes  the  payment  to  the  Temple  officials 
of  their  dues. 

This  section  explains  how  Tobiah  was  able  to  appropriate  for 
his  own  use  the  large  chamber  (see  on  ver.  5)  which  was  allotted 
him  by  Eliashib.  The  firstfruits,  tithes,  &c.,  had  ceased  to  be 
paid  (verses  10-13%  so  that  the  Temple  storehouses  (see  on  ver.  12) 
were  no  longer  required  for  their  ordinary  purposes. 

The   fact   that   Nehemiah  reproaches   the  people  (ver.   11)  for 

^  According  to  Sayce  they  existed  among  the  Babylonians  and 
Egyptians  as  far  back  as  b.  c.  3000. 


NEHEMIAH  13.  n,  12.     N  281 

of  the  Levites  had  not  been  given  them  ;  so  that  the 
Levites  and  the  singers,  that  did  the  work,  were  fled 
every  one  to  his  field.  Then  contended  I  with  the  11 
*  rulers,  and  said,  Why  is  the  house  of  God  forsaken? 
And  I  gathered  them  together,  and  set  them  in  their 
place.    Then  brought  all  Judah  the  tithe  of  the  corn  and  12 

*  Or,  deputies 

neglecting  to  pay  their  contributions  shows  that  laws  regulating 
such  contributions  had  been  made  and  proclaimed,  i.  e.  verses  10- 
14  in  the  present  chapter  presuppose  x.  37-39  (see  p.  277). 

10.  portions :  see  on  xii.  44. 

the  Levites :  since  the  priests  were  to  receive  a  tithe  ot 
the  Levites'  tithe  (see  x.  37-39)  it  is  surprising  that  we  do  not 
read  of  their  losses  as  well  as  those  of  the  Levites  :  see  at  p.  243. 

But  it  is  exceedingly  likely  that  the  word  Levites  has  here  its 
wider  sense  and  includes  both  priests  and  Levites.  The  addition 
of  siagers  (probably  '  and  porters '  must  be  added),  as  distinct 
from  porters,  lends  support  to  this  view. 

were  fled  every  one  to  Ms  field :  this  is  a  confirmation  of  what 
is  said  in  xi.  i  f.  Up  to  the  time  when  the  walls  were  completed 
Jerusalem  was  very  thinly  populated,  the  great  mass  of  the  Jewish 
community,  official  and  lay,  residing  in  the  country  and  supporting 
themselves  on  their  several  plots  of  land  or  other^\nse.  Priests  and 
others  had  transferred  themselves  to  the  capital,  and  arrangements 
for  their  maintenance  had  been  made,  which  in  Nehemiah's  absence 
had  not  been  observed, so  that  they  were  obliged  toreturn  to  the  land. 

According  to  the  Deuteronomic  code,  priests  (including  Levites 
who  are  in  that  code  synonymous  with  them)  were  to  have  no 
inheritance,  but  to  depend  for  their  support  on  altar  dues,  &c.  (see 
Deut.  xviii.  i  fif,}.  But  after  the  destruction  of  the  Temple  religious 
as  well  as  political  organizations  fell  to  pieces,  so  that  for  a  long 
period  after  the  exile  the  priests  and  Levites  had  to  earn  their  own 
living.  In  Ezek.  and  in  the  P  code  (see  Num.  xxxv)  certain  cities 
were  set  apart  for  the  Levites. 

11.  contended  I,  &c.  :  see  verses  17,  21,  25. 

rulers:  Heb.  scganwi:  see  on  ii.  16  and  on  Ezra  ix.  i,  where 
another  word  (rendered  '  princes')  with  the  same  meaning  occurs. 

Why  is  tile  house  of  God  forsaken  ?     See  on  x.  39. 

(I  gathered)  them :  i.  e.  the  Levites  :  see  on  ver.  10. 

and  set  them  in  their  place  :  i.  e.  restored  them  to  their 
Temple  posts. 

12.  Judah :  i.  e.  the  lay  part  of  the  community  of  the  return, 
the  gola,  though  it  included  some  who  were  never  out  of  the  land  : 
see  on  i.  2  and  on  vi.  21  ;  cf.  xii.  31,  44. 


282  NEHEMIAH  13.  13-15.     N 

13  the  wine  and  the  oil  unto  the  treasuries.  And  I  made 
treasurers  over  the  treasuries,  Shelemiah  the  priest,  and 
Zadok  the  scribe,  and  of  the  Levites,  Pedaiah :  and  next 
to  them  was  Hanan  the  son  of  Zaccur,  the  son  of  Mattan- 
iah  :  for  they  were  counted  faithful,  and  their  business 

14  was  to  distribute  unto  their  brethren.  Remember  me, 
O  my  God,  concerning  this,  and  wipe  not  out  my  ^  good 
deeds  that  I  have  done  tor  the  house  of  my  God,  and 
for  the  observances  thereof. 

15  In  those  days  saw  I  in  Judah  some  treading  winepresses 

*  Heb.  kindnesses. 

treasuries :  the  same  Hebrew  word  is  rightly  rendered 
'treasures'  in  xii.  44.  Here  it  means  rooms  (chambers)  where 
the  treasures  (firstfruits,  tithes,  &c.)  were  stored  :  see  ver.  5,  xii. 
44  ;  2  Chron.  xxxii.  27. 

13.  I  made  treasurers :  the  one  Hebrew  word  (a  verb  ex- 
plained as  a  denominative  of  the  noun-= '  treasure')  occurs  nowhere 
else,  and  it  is  better  (with  LXX  Cod.  N,  Luc,  Syr.,  Ryssel, 
Klostermann,  Guthe-Batten)  to  read,  '  I  appointed  over  the 
treasuries  Shelemiah,'  &c. 

Shelemiah,  Zadok,  and  Hanan  are  mentioned  in  the  same 
connexion  among  those  that  repaired  the  wall :  see  iii.  29  f. 

Zadok  was,  like  Ezra,  a  priest  (see  iii.  29  ;  cf.  vii.  40)  and 
a  scribe  (see  on  Ezra  vii.  6). 

Pedaiah  :  see  viii.  4. 

next  to  them :  lit.  '  at  their  hand,  ready  to  help ' :  see  on 
iii.  2,  where  the  words  seem  to  have  a  different  sense ;  cf.  xi.  24, 
*at  the  king's  hand.' 

Zaccur  :  see  xii.  35. 

Mattaniah  :  see  xi.  17,  xii.  8,  25,  38. 
R3'le  thinks  that   Shelemiah  represented  the  Temple  priests, 
Zadok  the  'judicial'  section  of  the  priests,  Pedaiah  the  Levites 
proper,  and  Hanan  the  singers  and  porters. 

14.  See  on  v.  19.  We  have  such  a  prayer  at  the  close  of 
each  description  of  a  reform  due  to  Nehemiah  :  see  verses  14, 
22,  31. 

15-22.  Provisions  made  for  the  strict  observance  of  the  Sabbath 
among  the  Hebreivs.  See  on  x.  31,  and  for  a  histor}^  of  the 
Hebrew  Sabbath  on  ix.  14. 

15.  in  Jndah :  the  provisions  were  prepared  in  the  country 
parts  and  then  brought  on  the  Sabbath  day  into  Jerusalem. 

trvadingf  winepresses :  see  Lam.  i.  15;  Isa.  Ixiii.  2.     In  the 


NEHEMIAH  13.  16,17.     N  283 

on  the  sabbath,  and  bringing  in  ='  sheaves,  and  lading  asses 
thereivith ;  as  also  wine,  grapes,  and  figs,  and  all  manner 
of  burdens,  which  they  brought  into  Jerusalem  on  the 
sabbath  day  :  and  I  testified  against  them  in  the  day 
wherein  they  sold  victuals.  There  dwelt  men  of  Tyre  i6 
also  therein,  which  brought  in  fish,  and  all  manner  of 
ware,  and  sold  on  the  sabbath  unto  the  children  of 
Judah,  and  in  Jerusalem.  Then  I  contended  with  the  17 
nobles  of  Judah,  and  said  unto  them^  What  evil  thing  is 
"  Or,  heaps  of  cotii 

process  of  making  wine  the  grapes  were  placed  in  a  stone  recep- 
tacle called  gat  (Eng.  'wine-press  ')  and  afterwards  trodden  with 
bare  feet.  The  juice  thus  obtained  passed  into  a  lower  receptacle 
csWcd  ye geb  (Eng.  'wine-vat').  Often  wine-press  and  wine-vat 
were  hewn  out  of  the  solid  rock  in  situ.  The  E.VV.  do  not  con- 
sistently observe  the  distinction  between  these  words,  for  yegeb 
('wine-vat')  is  called  'wine-press'  in  some  nine  or  ten  cases, 
e.g.  Num.  xviii.  27,  30  ;  Deut.  xv.  14;  Judges  vii.  21  ;  Job  v.  2; 
Jer.  xlviii.  31,  &c. 

bringing'  in :  i.  e.  harvesting. 

sheaves  :  the  margin  is  better. 
The    order    in  which  the  treading    of  wine-presses    and    the 
in-gathering  of  corn  is   mentioned  here  is  not  that  of  nature,  as 
the  vintage  is  later  than  the  corn  harvest  by  many  weeks. 

Z  testified,  &c.  :  Hebrew  idiom  requires  that  the  verb  should 
be  followed  by  the  preposition  translated  '  in  '  (the  day).  It 
would  make  the  construction  simpler  and  the  sense  clearer  if  we 
read  with  Bertholet  (making  a  few  changes)  :  '  And  I  testified 
against  them  when  they  sold  victuals.'  The  M.T.  is  understood  to 
say  that  the  goods  brought  into  Jerusalem  were  not  sold  until 
some  day  in  the  following  week ;  but  the  construction  is  singular 
and  vague,  as  the  English  will  show.  Bertheau,  Schultz,  Ryssel, 
and  Ryle  thought  that  no  actual  selling  took  place  on  the  Sabbath, 
but  ver.  16  proves  the  contrary. 

16.  men  of  Tyre  :  perhaps  descendants  of  those  who  helped  in 
the  rebuilding  of  the  Temple  (Ezra  iii.  7)  ;  or  they  may  have 
settled  in  the  city  to  receive  and  sell  (dried)  fish  sent  them  by 
kinsmen.     '  Sidon  '  (near  Tyre)  means  probably  •  Fishing  town.' 

the  children  of  Jndah,  and  in  Jerusalem :  omit  and  with 
Arab.,  Syr.,  Vulg.,  and  some  MSS.,  rendering  'the  Judahites  in 
Jerusalem.' 

17.  nobles:  sec  on  ii.  16.     Nehemiah  concentrates  his  censure 


284  NEHEMIAH  13.  18-22.     N 

1 8  this  that  ye  do^  and  profane  the  sabbath  day  ?  Did  not 
your  fathers  thus,  and  did  not  our  God  bring  all  this  evil 
upon  us,  and  upon  this  city  ?  yet  ye  bring  more  wrath 

19  upon  Israel  by  profaning  the  sabbath.  And  it  came  to 
pass  that,  when  the  gates  of  Jerusalem  began  to  be  dark 
before  the  sabbath,  I  commanded  that  the  doors  should 
be  shut,  and  commanded  that  they  shoi^ld  not  be  opened 
till  after  the  sabbath :  and  some  of  my  servants  set  I 
over  the  gates,  that  there  should  no  burden  be  brought 

::o  in  on  the  sabbath  day.  So  the  merchants  and  sellers  of 
all  kind  of  ware  lodged  without  Jerusalem  once  or  twice. 

21  Then  I  testified  against  them,  and  said  unto  them,  Why 
lodge  ye  ^  about  the  wall  ?  if  ye  do  so  again,  I  will  lay 
hands  on  you.     From  that  time  forth  came  they  no  more 

22  on  the  sabbath.     And  I  commanded  the  Levites  that 

^  Heb.  before. 

on  them  because  they  were  responsible  for  the  existing  state  of 
things. 

profane:  secularize,  i.e.  treat  the  Sabbath  as  an  ordinary  day. 

18.  See  Jer.  xvii.  2i  ff.  and  cf.  Ezra's  prayer  (Ezra  ix.  6-15) 
and  Nehemiah's  (ix> 

your  fathers  .  .  .  our   God:    note   the  striking  contrast   of 
pronouns. 

upon  us:    i.e.  upon  our  nation.     LXX^,  Luc.^  Guthe   read 
'upon  them  and  upon  us.' 

19-22.    The  regulations  made  by  Nehemiah. 

19.  when  the  grates  .  .  .  began  to  he  dark:  more  literally, 
*  as  soon  as  the  gates  .  .  ,  began  to  have  shadows  on  them,'  or  *  to 
have  darkness  on  them.' 

The  gates  were  large  stone  structures  with  doors  on  either  side, 
and  usually  a  large  one  in  the  centre.  It  was  through  the  side  doors 
that  passengers  entered,  the  ordinary  traffic  (horses,  &c.)  passing 
through  the  central  door,  or  rather  gate  :  see  on  vi.  i. 

20.  Though  goods  could  not  be  brought  into  the  city  on  the 
Sabbath,  the  people  went  out  to  buy,  so  that  the  Sabbath  was 
broken  all  the  same. 

22.  What  were  the  Levites  commanded  to  do? 

1.  To  cleanse  themselves  ceremonially:  see  Ezra  vi.  20;  Neh. 
xii.  30. 

2.  Having   temporarily  appointed    some   of  his  own  servants 


NEHEMIAH  13.  23-25.     N  285 

they  should  purify  themselves,  and  that  they  should  come 
and  keep  the  gates,  to  sanctify  the  sabbath  day.  Re- 
member unto  me,  O  my  God,  this  also,  and  spare 
me  according  to  the  greatness  of  thy  mercy. 

In  those  days  also  saw  I  the  Jews  that  ^^had  married  23 
women  of  Ashdod,  of  Ammon,  and  of  Moab  :  and  their  24 
children  spake  half  in  the  speech  of  Ashdod,  and  could 
not  speak  in  the  Jews'  language,  but  according  to  the  lan- 
guage of  each  people.     And  I  contended  with  them,  and  25 
^  cursed  them,  and  smote  certain  of  them,  and  plucked 

*  Heb.  had  made  to  dweli  with  them.  ^  Or,  reviled 


(see  on  iv.  16)  to  guard  the  gates  during  the  Sabbath,  Nehemiah 
made  permanent  appointment  of  some  Levites  to  undertake  the 
task.  Reuss  thinks  that  it  is  the  Temple  gates  alone  that  the 
Levites  are  here  commanded  to  watch,  but  through  these  gates 
goods  for  sale  could  hardly  be  brought.  It  must  be  admitted, 
however,  that  the  Hebrew  is  strange. 

23-29.  Neheinialts  strenuous  protest  against  mixed  marriages : 
see  ix.  2,  x.  28,  30  ;   Ezra  ix.  i  ff.,  x.  i  ff . 

23.  saw  I:  perhaps  during  a  tour  of  inspection  (see  ver.  15). 
Ixad  married :  see  R.Vm.  and  on  Ezra  x.  2. 

24.  their  cliildreu :  the  marriages  were  of  some  standing,  as 
the  children  were  old  enough  to  be  able  to  speak. 

speecli  of  Aslidod :  perhaps  a  dialectical  variety  of  Hebrew, 
but  as  we  have  no  specimen  of  it  its  real  character  must  always 
remain  a  problem  ^. 

the  Jews'  langnagfe :  such  Heb.  as  Nehemiah  spoke  and 
wrote.  It  is  a  great  mistake  to  think  that  the  Jews  spoke  Aramaic 
and  not  Hebrew  after  the  return,  though  that  was  once  the  common 
view.  Haggai,  Zechariah,  Malachi,  and  Nehemiah  are  written  in 
excellent  Hebrew,  and  so  is  most  of  Ezra. 

according  to  the  language :  an  awkward  sentence,  and 
probably  (with  the  LXX)  to  be  rejected  as  a  gloss.  The  words 
can  mean  only  that  the  other  half  spoke  in  the  languages  or  dialects 
of  the  Ammonites  and  Moabites. 

25.  I  contended:  see  verses  11,  17, 

cursed  them :  i.  e.  the  men.  The  same  verb  occurs  in  ver.  2, 
Mai.  iii.  9,  iv.  6.     The  curse  would  be  conditional   li^see  on  x.  29), 

^  An  Egyptian  inscription  of  the  26th  Dynasty  (cir.  B.  c  660) 
mentions  the  language  of  the  Philistines  as  a  distinct  form  of  speech 
— so  says  Professor  Sayce. 


286  NEHEMIAH  13.  26-28.     N 

off  their  hair,  and  made  them  swear  by  God,  saying^ 
Ye  shall  not  give  your  daughters  unto  their  sons, 
nor  take  their  daughters  for  your  sons,  or  for  yourselves. 
36  Did  not  Solomon  king  of  Israel  sin  by  these  things? 
yet  among  many  nations  was  there  no  king  like  him, 
and  he  was  beloved  of  his  God,  and  God  made  him 
king  over  all  Israel :  nevertheless  even  him  did  strange 

27  women  cause  to  sin.  Shall  we  then  hearken  unto  you  to 
do  all  this  great  evil,  to  trespass  against  our  God   in 

28  marrying  strange  women  ?  And  one  of  the  sons  of 
Joiada,  the  son  of  Eliashib  the  high  priest,  was  son  in  law 
to  Sanballat  the  Horonite  :  therefore  I  chased  him  from 

'May  ye  suffer  .  .  .  if  ye  put  not  away  your  strange  wives.'  The 
same  verb  in  another  species  {Hiph.)  means  to  treat  with  contempt, 
lit.,  'to  make  little  of  (a  Welsh  idiom',  and  Gesenius,  Dathe,  Lee, 
and  others  so  explain  here  (see  R.Vm).  But  without  altering  the 
vowels  it  can  hardly  have  this  sense  here. 

smote:  in  Egypt,  Palestine,  &c.,  persons  are  whipped  with 
the  koorbash  and  struck  with  the  hand  in  a  way  that  would  be 
firmly  resented  in  the  West  by  the  most  menial. 

plucked  off  their  hair  :  see  on  Ezra  ix.  3. 

26.  Did  not  Solomon,  &c.  :  see  i  Kings  xi.  1-8,  iii.  17  ;  2  Sam. 
xii.  25. 

no  king  like  him:  see  i  Kings  iii.  12 f.  ;  2  Chron.  i.  12. 
strange  (=  'foreign')  women  :  see  on  Ezra  x.  2. 

27.  Shall  we  then  hearken,  &c. :  the  verb  is  in  form  either 
passive  third  per.  sing,  or  active  first  per.  plur.  We  should  probably 
render,  'As  regards  you  (first  for  emphasis)  is  it  (  =  can  it  be) 
reported  that  ye  do  all  this/  &c.  (see  Deut.  iv.  32)  :  so  Bertheau, 
Ryssel,Bertholet,  &c.  But  Siegfried  and  others  prefer  to  follow  the 
LXX,  Vulg.,  and  the  E.VV.,  rendering  'Shall  we  then  listen  to 
you '  (i.e.  your  pleadings,  &c.),  '  that  you  may  do,'  &c.  '  If  Solomon 
failed  to  avoid  the  connecting  evils,  is  it  likely  that  you  will?' 

28.  Eliashib  the  high  priest:  the  latter  words  can  as  well, 
according  to  the  Heb  ,  go  with  Joiada  (xii.  lo),  so  that  it  is  not 
certain  that  Eliashib  was  at  the  time  alive. 

Sanballat :  see  on  ii.  10. 

I  chased  him,  &c. :  i.  e.  apparently,  '  I  expelled  him  from 
the  community.' 

It  is  with  this  incident  that  Josephus  ^  connects  the  building  of 

^  Antiq.  .\i.  7,  2;  V.  S,  2  f . 


NEHEMIAH  13.  29-31.     N  287 

me.     Remember  them,  O  my  God,  '^because  they  have  29 
defiled  the  priesthood,  and  the  covenant  of  the  priest- 
hood, and  of  the  Levites.     Thus  cleansed  I  them  from  30 
t»  all  strangers,  and  appointed  wards  for  the  priests  and  for 
the  Levites,  every  one  in  his  work  ;  and  for  the  wood  31 
offering,    at   times    appointed,    and    for    the    firstfruits. 
Remember  me,  O  my  God,  for  good. 

'^  Heb.  /or  the  defilings  of  dfc.  ^  Or,  every  thing  strange 


the  Temple  on  Mount  Gerizim  in  the  time  of  Alexander  the  Great. 
But  it  is  probable  that  he  confounds  the  present  incident  with  the 
expulsion  of  Manasses  in  330  b.  c. 

29.  Bemember,  &c. :  in  a  bad  sense,  as  in  vi.  14.     Contrast  the 
force  of  the  same  verb  in  ver.  31,  dec. 

defiled  the  priesthood:  see  Lev.  xx.  13-15.     Joiada,  if  not 

now  high-priest,  was  to  hold  that  position  after  his  father's  death. 

the  covenant  of,  &c. :  render,   *  the  covenant  of  the  priests 

(so  Luc,  Guthe)  and  of  the  Levites'  (see  Mai.  ii.  4-9,  and  Deut. 

xxxiii.  9). 

30  f.  Nehemiah' s  own  resume  of  the  work  he  did. 

30.  (cleansed  I)  them  :  i.  e.  the  priests  and  Levites. 

from  all  strangfers  :  Heb.  '  from  everything  foreign,'  i.  e. 
foreign  wives,  religious  rites,  &c. 

wards  :  successive  watches  or  courses  of  priests  and  Levites 
(see  on  xii.  44  f.). 

in  his  work:  i.  e.  Temple  service.  Better  ,'with  LXX^^,  Lt<c., 
Guthe),  '  according  to  his  work.'  The  change  is  of  one  consonant 
for  another  almost  exactly  like  it. 

31.  the  wood  offering:  see  on  x.  34. 
firstfruits  :  see  on  x.  35-37. 

Remember  me,  &c.  :  see  verses  14,  22,  v.  19. 


THE    BOOK   OF   ESTHER 

INTRODUCTION 

AND 

REVISED  VERSION  WITH  ANNOTATIONS 


U  2 


ESTHER 


INTRODUCTION 

I.    Name  of  the  Book. 

This  book  is  called  in  the  Talm.  B  ^  Megillat  Ester,  or 
'The  Roll  of  Esther'  (see  under  next  section).  It  is  also 
called  by  way  of  pre-eminence  '  The  Roll,'  on  account  of 
the  peculiar  respect  in  which  it  was  held. 

In  editions  of  the  Hebrew  Bible  it  is  called  simply 
'Esther,'  as  it  is  also  in  the  Greek  versions.  In  the 
Syriac  (Pesh.)  and  Vulg.  the  title  is  '  Book  of  Esther.' 

In  the  enlarged  version  of  the  book  current  among  the 
Alexandrians  the  name  '  The  Epistle  of  Purim '  seems  to 
have  been  given  it,  from  a  misunderstanding  of  Esther  ix. 
20,  29  (see  on).  But  this  title  never  came  into  general 
use,  even  at  Alexandria. 

II.  Place  in  the  Canon. 
In  our  Hebrew  Bible  this  book  appears  last  of  the  five 
'  rolls '  (Megillot),  all  of  which  are  in  the  third  '  Canon ' 
of  the  O.T.,  that  called  the  Ketubim  ('writings')  or 
Hagiographa  (*  Holy  Things,'  so  called  on  account  of  the 
presence  of  the  Psalms  in  it).  The  first  of  the  five  rolls 
to  be  so  called  was  Esther,  which  received  the  name  'The 
Roll '  at  this  time  when,  through  its  connexion  with  Purim, 
it  came  to  be  written  on  a  separate  parchment  roll.  On 
account  of  its  being  read  during  Purim  ^  the  term  *  roll ' 
came  to  be  applied  to  four  other  books  read  on  other 
festivals  as  follows: — (i)   Canticles,  read  on  Passover: 


^  Baba  Bathra,  xiv  b. 

-  The  rules  for  the  reading  are  given  in  full  in  the  Talmudic 
Tract  Megillah. 


292  ESTHER 

(2)  Ruth,  read  on  Pentecost  ;  (3)  Lamentations,  read 
on  the  ninth  of  Ab,  the  day  set  apart  for  the  commemora- 
tion of  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  in  586  ;  (4)  Qoheleth 
(Ecclesiastes),  read  during  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles.  For 
other  positions  of  this  book  in  the  MSS.  and  other  edi- 
tions of  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  Bibles  see  Ryle,  on  The 
Canon  of  the  O.TA'^\  p.  292  ff.,  &c. 

In  the  Talm.  B.  Berak.  57  B,  we  have  a  twofold  arrange- 
ment of  the  Ketiibivi  [Hagiographa). 

1.  The  large  *  K.'  (Psalms,  Proverbs,  Job). 

2.  The  small  *  K.'  (Canticles,  Qoheleth,  and  Lamen- 
tations). 

In  his  valuable  work  on  the  Canon  (^)  ^  Professor  (now 
Bishop)  Ryle  makes  a  mistake  in  substituting  Esther 
for  Lamentations  in  (2)  above. 

The  Talmudic  passage  is  translated  and  commented  on 
by  the  present  writer  in  The  Interpreter,  July,  1909. 

Esther  is  among  the  Antilegouiena,  or  disputed  books 
of  the  Hebrew  Canon,  the  others  being  Ezekiel,  Jonah, 
Proverbs,  Canticles,  and  Qoheleth.  The  right  of  Esther 
to  a  place  in  the  Canon  was  contested  by  many  leading 
Jews  and  Christians  down  to  the  fourth  century  of  our 
era.  Paton  (p.  97)  affirms,  what  neither  he  nor  any  one 
else  has  proved,  that  the  Jewish  Synod  held  at  Jamnia  in 
A.  D.  90  decreed  this  book  to  be  canonical.  It  is  absent 
from  the  list  of  O.T.  books  given  by  representative  Jews  to 
Melito,  Bishop  of  Sardis  (d.  a.  d.  175),  and  in  the  fourth 
century  both  Athanasius  and  Gregory  Nazianzen  ^  (d.  389) 
denied  it  to  be  canonical.  In  the  Eastern  Church  its 
canonicity  was  a  matter  of  dispute  even  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  for  it  was  stoutly  denied  by  Nicephorus  Callistus^ 
(d.  circa  1330),  though  its  recognition  in  the  West  was 
finally  secured  through  its  acceptance  by  the  Council  of 
Carthage  (A.  D.  397). 

'  p.  293. 

2  Wildeboer,  Canon,  &c.,  77. 

'  Westcott,  The  Bible  in  the  Church,  p.  227. 


INTRODUCTION  293 

One  has  to  bear  in  mind  the  following  features  of  the 
book  to  understand  the  suspicion  with  which  it  was 
regarded  alike  by  Jews  and  Christians. 

1.  The  Divine  Being  is  not  once  mentioned  or  referred 
to  from  end  to  end  of  the  book  (this  applies,  however,  to 
I  Mace,  also  in  critical  texts)  :  see  on  v.  4. 

2.  No  other  part  of  the  O.T.  is  referred  to  in  this  book, 
not  even  the  Torah,  nor  is  anything  said  about  Jerusalem, 
the  Temple,  sacrifice,  or  about  any  festival  except  Purim, 
which  has  a  secular  origin  and  has  no  sanction  in  the 
Torah,  &c. 

3.  The  book  is  not  once  quoted  in  the  N.T.,  a  state- 
ment which,  however,  is  equally  true  of  Canticles,  Oohe- 
leth,  Ezra,  Nehemiah,  and  even  the  prophetical  books 
Obadiah,  Nahum,  and  Zephaniah. 

4.  More  important  than  the  absence  of  religious  phrase- 
ology and  of  the  religious  spirit  is  the  presence  throughout 
the  book  of  a  low  ethical  standard.  It  is  true  that  the 
treachery  and  cruelty  of  Haman  are  by  implication  con- 
demned, but  the  writer  gloats  over  the  equal  cruelty  of 
Mordecai  and  Esther.  Nothing  seems  wrong  if  only  it 
furthers  the  advancement  of  the  Jews — not  of  Judaism — 
for  this  last  there  is  no  concern  whatever. 

It  is  not,  therefore,  surprising  that  Luther  wished  the 
book  did  not  exist,  and  that  Ewald^  said  of  it :  *  Its  story 
knows  nothing  of  high  and  pure  truths.  In  it  we  fall  as 
if  from  heaven  to  earth.' 

The  book  would  never  have  been  admitted  into  the 
Canon  at  all  but  that  it  gives  an  ostensible  account  of  the 
origin  of  the  Purim  Feast,  which  the  Jews  had  made 
religious,  and  supplies  reasons  for  its  observance. 

Nevertheless  in  quite  early  times  Esther  came  to  occupy 
a  position  in  the  esteem  and  veneration  of  Jews  second  to 
the  Torah  (Pentateuch)  alone,  a  position  which  it  con- 
tinues to  hold.  Rabbi  b.  Lakish  {circa  A.  D.  300)  says 
that  Esther  stands  next  to  the  Torah^  while  Maimonides 

^  History  (Eng.  Trans.),  i.  197. 


294  ESTHER 

(d.  A.  D.  T204)  says  that  when  the  Messiah  comes  the 
other  books  of  the  O.T.  may  pass  away,  but  the  Torah 
and  Esther  will  abide  for  ever. 

Apocryphal  Additions  to  Esther. 

In  the  oldest  and  best  MSS.  of  the  LXX  (B.A.,  the 
Sinaitic,  &c.)  the  book  of  Esther  is  much  larger  than  in  the 
M.T.,  for  it  contains  270  verses  as  compared  with  163  in 
the  Hebrew  text.  These  additions  are  scattered  through- 
out the  book,  and  have  for  aim  the  supplying  of  the  reli- 
gious element  which  in  the  book  is  quite  lacking.  In 
Jerome's  version  and  in  the  Vulg.,  which  is  based  on  it, 
the  longest  and  most  important  of  these  additions  are 
taken  out  of  their  context  and  put  together  at  the  end  of 
the  Canonical  book,  thus  making  them  in  a  large  measure 
unintelligible.  In  English,  Welsh,  and  other  modern 
versions  not  dependent  on  the  Vulg.,  the  above  additions 
appear  in  the  Apocrypha  ('  The  Rest  of  the  Chapters  of 
the  Book  of  Esther ').  The  editions  of  the  LXX  by 
Tischendorf-Nestle,  Swete,  &c.,  include  these  parts,  and 
place  them  in  their  original  connexion,  which  is  the  arrange- 
ment followed  in  the  English  translation  of  the  LXX  by 
Brereton.  Thompson's  English  LXX  leaves  out  the 
Apocrypha  altogether,  rendering  the  canonical  parts  only  of 
the  Greek  Bible.  '  The  Rest  of . . .  Esther '  is  so  obviously 
a  later  attempt  to  correct  the  non-religious  character  of 
the  original  Esther  that  no  modern  scholar  defends  their 
genuineness  or  could  do  so  with  any  show  of  reason. 

In  the  notes  on  Esther  in  the  present  volume  the 
Apocryphal  parts  of  the  book  are  indicated  by  square 
brackets  in  the  context  in  which  they  occur  in  the  LXX, 
thus  [Apoc.  Esther  xi.  2-xii.  6].  In  Swete's  edition  they 
are  designated  by  the  letters  A,  B,  &c.,  as  follows  : — 

A  (Lat.  Eng.  xi.  2-xii.  6) :  Mordecai's  dream  ;  how  he 
came  to  honour  ;  precedes  Esther  i.  i. 

B  (Lat.  Eng.  xiii.  1-7)  :  Letter  of  Artaxerxes  ;  follows 
Esther  iii.  13. 


INTRODUCTION  295 

C  (Lat.  Eng.  xiii.  8-xiv.  19)  :  The  prayers  of  Mordecai 
and  Esther  ;  follows  Esther  iv.  17. 

D  (Lat.  XV.  4-19,  Eng.  xvi.  1-16):  Esther  visits  the 
king  and  wins  his  favour  ;  follows  C,  preceding  immedi- 
ately Esther  v. 

E  (Lat.  Eng.  xvi.  1-24) :  Letter  of  Artaxerxes  ;  follows 
Esther  viii.  12. 

r  (Lat.  Eng.  x.  4-xi) :  Epilogue  describing  the  estab- 
lishment of  Purim  ;  follows  Esther  x.  3. 

Besides  the  lengthy  interpolations  noticed  above  there 
are  also  in  the  LXX  small  additions  which  are  omitted 
from  the  Latin  version  and  therefore  from  the  English  and 
Welsh  Apocrypha,  these  additions  being  for  the  most 
part  explanatory  glosses.  There  are  also  in  the  LXX 
numerous  omissions  of  words  and  sentences  found  in  the 
M.T.  A  careful  study  of  the  additions  and  of  the  omis- 
sions makes  it  evident  that  the  M.T.  represents  the  original 
text  of  the  book. 

Modern  scholars  almost  to  a  man  agree  that  the '  Addi- 
tions '  are  some  decades  later  in  date  (say  100  B.  C.)  than 
the  Canonical  Esther,  though  they  owe  their  existence  to 
the  same  movement  of  thought  and  feeling  as  those  which 
prompted  our  Esther  and  the  many  Targums  and 
Midrashes  on  the  book.  Some  writers  (chiefly  Roman 
Catholic  divines  like  Langen,  Kaulen,  and  Scholtz) 
maintain  that  the  original  language  of  the  '  Additions ' 
was  Hebrew  or  Aramaic.  But  a  careful  study  of  the  text 
makes  it  plain  that  its  language  is  that  of  one  writing 
originally  in  Greek  and  not  translating.  And  many  other 
considerations  confirm  the  conclusion  thus  reached.  See 
Ryssel,  Kautzsch.  Apoc.  i.  193  ff.,  and  Fuller,  Speaker's 
Bible,  Apoc.  i.36  2ff. 

III.    Abstract  of  Contents. 
The  book  gives  the  history  of  Esther  and  her  cousin 
Mordecai,  and  tells  how  the  former  became  Xerxes'  queen 
and  Mordecai  that  king's  grand   vizier,  and   how   both 


296  ESTHER 

secured  the  deliverance  of  their  people  the  Jews  from  the 
massacre  planned  by  Haman,  in  commemoration  of  which 
deliverance  the  Feast  of  Purim  was  established. 

For  more  detailed  analysis  see  the  annotations  on  the 
text  in  which  the  various  sections  and  subsections  of 
Esther  and  the  '  Rest  of  Esther'  are  lakl  out  and  sum- 
marized. 

IV.    Aim  and  Character  of  the  Book. 

The  Commentaries  and  Introductions  say  with  practi- 
cally one  voice  that  the  purpose  contemplated  in  writing 
this  book  was  to  supply  motives  for  the  keeping  of  the  Feast 
Purim.  But  this  is  a  superficial  view  to  take.  Why  should 
the  Jews  of  the  circle  to  which  the  writer  belonged  be 
obsessed  by  a  desire  to  make  this  particular  festival^ 
about  which  their  law  says  nothing,  permanent  ?  And 
why  with  such  a  desire  was  such  a  book  as  Esther  written  ? 
To  the  first  question  the  present  writer's  answer  is  that  this 
institution  had  become  a  part  of  the  nation's  life  and 
could  not  be  suppressed.  The  question  would  naturally 
arise,  If  this  feast  of  heathen  origin  and  with  heathen 
suggestions  must  he  tolerated,  how  can  it  be  emptied  of 
its  heathen  contents  and  be  made  the  channel  through 
which  Jewish  patriotism,  such  as  had  been  recently  dis- 
played in  the  Maccabean  wars,  should  be  expressed  and 
reinforced  ?  That  was  the  task  the  writer  seems  to  have 
set  before  him,  and  in  the  Hebrew  Esther  we  have  his 
attempt  to  perform  it — an  admirable  attempt  too,  judged 
from  the  literary  and  every  other  point  of  view,  though  at 
times  the  author  is  guilty  of  inconsistencies  and  anachron- 
isms which  will  be  pointed  out  and  commented  on  in  the 
notes. 

Esther  is  therefore  a  didactic  romance,  a  novel  with  a 
purpose,  like  many  of  the  novels  of  Charles  Kingsley, 
Dickens,  and  George  Eliot. 

Is  the  book  historical  in  the  literal  sense  "i  To  this 
question  the  answer  of  the  older  commentators  and  of 
many  moderns  has  been  *  Yes '  (Havernick,  Keil,  &c.). 


INTRODUCTION  297 

Since  the  time  of  Semler  (Professor  at  Halle,  d.  1791), 
who  made  a  vigorous  onslaught  upon  the  historicity  of  the 
book,  scholars  have  come  more  and  more  to  regard  Esther 
as  a  romance,  composed  to  set  forth  and  illustrate  the 
ideas  the  author  wished  to  have  connected  with  Purim. 
An  intermediate  position  is  taken  up  by  many  scholars 
(Schultz,  &c.),  viz.  that  there  is  a  basis  of  fact  in  the  book, 
though  the  latter  is  to  a  large  extent  the  work  of  the 
writer's  imagination,  controlled,  of  course,  by  his  purpose. 
No  one  has  up  to  the  present  been  able  to  find  out  this 
nucleus  of  fact  and  to  support  it  from  external  sources. 
The  historical  background  of  the  book  is  almost  certainly 
the  patriotism  evoked  by  the  Maccabean  wars,  as  Spinoza  \ 
that  marvellous  forerunner  in  philosophy,  science,  and 
biblical  criticism,  surmised,  though  he  assigned  a  simi- 
lar date  for  Ezra-Nehemiah,  which  is  absurd,  as  well  as 
for  Daniel,  which  is  reasonable. 

The  following  considerations  make  it  impossible  to 
regard  Esther  as  a  record  of  actual  occurrences. 

1.  The  period  implied  is  that  of  Xerxes  I  (see  on  i.  i), 
who  reigned  from  485  to  465.  But  its  second  hero,  Mor- 
decai,  is  said  to  have  been  one  of  the  exiles  taken  with 
Jehoiachin  in  597  (ii.  6).  This  would  make  Mordecai 
when  he  first  comes  before  us  in  this  book  some  130  years 
old  and  Esther,  who  won  the  king's  heart  by  her  virgin 
charms,  70  at  least !  Rawlinson's  way  out  of  this 
difficulty  is  not  a  happy  one  (see  Speaker's  Comm.  on 
ii.  6). 

2.  According  to  this  book  (i.  12)  women  and  men  could 
not  eat  together,  even  in  Persia ;  but  we  know  from 
ancient  historians'*  that  this  is  contrary  to  fact.  The 
writer  transfers  the  habits  of  his  own  time  and  country  to 
a  time  and  country  which  do  not  suit,  though  for  his  own 
immediate  purpose  it  matters  little,  if  anything. 

3.  Persian  history  knows  nothing  of  any  queen  of  Xerxes 

'   See  Tradahis  Theol.-Pol.  cap.  x.         ^  Her.  ix.  iiof.,  &c. 


298  ESTHER 

except  one  called  Amestris,  who,  though  at   one  time 
divorced,  was  afterwards  restored.^ 

4.  Persian  law  required  that  the  king  should  take  his 
wife  or  wives  from  one  of  seven  Persian  noble  families,  so 
that  it  would  have  been  impossible  for  Esther,  a  Jewess,  to 
become  a  Persian  queen.'^ 

5.  It  is  very  improbable  that  Esther  could  for  so  long  a 
time  have  concealed  her  relationship  with  Mordecai  and 
her  Jewish  descent  from  court,  king,  and  people  (see  on 
ii.  10). 

6.  What  purpose  could  be  served  by  keeping  the  virgin 
candidates  in  a  kind  of  quarantine  for  a  whole  year  ?  See 
on  ii.  12. 

7.  It  is  unlikely,  to  say  the  least,  that  either  Haman  the 
Amalekite  (see  on  iii.  i)  or  Mordecai  the  Jew  should  have 
risen  to  be  the  chief  ruler  in  Persia  next  to  Xerxes,  and  in 
non-biblical  history  there  is  no  intimation  that  anything  of 
the  kind  took  place  or  could  take  place. 

8.  It  is  improbable  that  the  whole  of  Susa  should  have 
been  so  deeply  stirred  by  episodes  in  the  history  of  the 
Jewish  population,  and  only  a  Jew  could  have  written 
iii.  15  and  viii.  15,  and  that  with  a  view  to  national  glori- 
fication. 

9.  In  the  hundred  and  twenty  provinces  of  Persia  (see 
on  i.  i)  and  the  eighty  days'  banquet  (see  on  i.  14)  we 
have  other  examples  of  the  writer's  tendency  towards 
exaggerated  statements,  so  as  to  give  piquancy  to  his 
tale. 

10.  That  the  king  should  have  quite  forgotten  the 
benefactor  who  had  saved  his  life  (ii.  21  flf.  and  vi.  i  ff.)  is 
another  of  the  improbabilities  of  the  book. 

V.  Unity  and  Integrity. 

With  the  exception  of  small  parts  (words,  phrases,  and 
some  verses)  the  whole  of  the  book  as  it  appears  in  the 

1  Her.  vii.  14  ;  ix.  112.  2  jb^  [^^  84. 


INTRODUCTION  299 

Hebrew  is  acknowledged  to  be  by  one  writer  as  far  as 
ix.  19.  Most  modern  critics  regard  ix.  20-32  as  belonging 
to  a  dififerent  source:  so  J.  D.  Michaelis,  Kamphausen, 
Ryssel,  Oettli,  Konig,  Wildeboer,  Baudissin,  and  Paton, 
the  latter  including,  as  must  be  done,  x.  1-3.  The 
grounds  on  which  these  writers  go  refer  to  language  and 
subject-matter. 

1.  There  are  in  ix.  20 ff.  words  and  expressions  not 
found  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  book,  and,  on  the  contrary, 
many  words  and  expressions  common  in  the  earlier  part 
are  here  absent.     See  an  excellent  list  in  Paton,  59  f. 

2.  As  regards  the  contents,  there  are  items  in  ix.  2oflf. 
inconsistent  with  what  has  gone  before.  According  to 
vii.  15  and  ix.  14,  Haman  and  his  sons  were  impaled  at 
different  times,  but  ix.  25  seems  to  mean  that  they  were 
impaled  all  at  one  time.  In  vi.  12-viii.  2  Esther  comes 
before  us  as  the  deliverer  of  the  Jews,  but  in  ix.  25  she  is 
not  even  mentioned  in  connexion  with  the  affair.  The 
king's  sentence  upon  Haman  in  vii.  8f.  and  ix.  25  appears 
to  be  different  and  to  imply  a  different  source :  see  further 
Paton,  57  ff.  It  must  be  owned,  however,  that  the  contra- 
dictions pointed  out  by  recent  writers  are  not  very  mani- 
fest in  many  cases,  and  it  has  to  be  borne  in  mind  that 
there  are  inconsistencies  in  i-ix.  19,  as  Paton  himself 
admits  ^  Thus,  in  ii.  5  Mordecai  is  one  of  the  captives  of 
597;  in  viii.  2,  123  years  later,  he  becomes  chief  minister 
of  Persia  and  displays  in  his  policy  all  the  vigour  of 
a  young  man. 

It  should  be  added  that  ix.  20-x.  3  does  not  seem  very 
essential  to  the  completeness  of  the  book,  and  it  looks 
much  like  an  addition  made  at  a  later  time  when  Purim 
was  kept  by  Jews  generally  during  two  days. 

VI.  Date  and  Authorship. 
The  book  was  written  about  130  B.C.     The  evidence 
for  this  is  of  two  kinds,  external  and  internal. 

^  Com.  72. 


300  ESTHER 

1.  External.  Apart  from  Esther  itself  we  find  no 
earlier  reference  to  Purim  than  that  which  occurs  in 
2  Mace.  XV.  36,  where  we  read  that  Nicanor's  day 
(13th  Adar)  was  followed  by  Mordecai's  day,  i.e. 
Purim.  Now  this  Apocryphal  book  is  not  much  older 
than  the  commencement  of  the  Christian  era.  In  Sir. 
xliv-xli  (date  ci7'ca  180  B.  c.)  there  is  a  long  list  of  Israel's 
worthies,  but  the  names  of  Esther  and  Mordecai  are 
lacking,  almost  certainly  because  the  Book  of  Esther  had 
not  been  written.  A  footnote  to  the  Greek  Esther  says 
that  the  book  was  brought  to  Egypt  in  the  fourth  year  of 
Ptolemy  and  Cleopatra  (i.  e.  probably  Ptolemy  Philometor, 
d.  146).  This  reference  shows  that  Esther  was  in  circu- 
lation by  the  end  of  the  second  century  B.C.,  if  not  earlier. 

Josephus  (d.  cbxa  A.  D.  95)  was  well  acquainted  with 
this  book  and  looked  upon  it  as  ancient.^ 

2.  Internal  Evidence,  (i)  The  style.  Though  the 
author  makes  a  courageous  attempt  to  write  in  the 
Hebrew  of  an  earlier  time— the  time,  in  fact,  of  Xerxes  I 
(d.  495) — and  avoids  some  words  characteristic  of  his 
own  day  (e.g.  the  short  relative  sh^  &c.),  yet  the  book 
abounds  in  late  words  (Aramaisms,  &c.).  See  the  Intro- 
ductions of  Kuenen  (Dutch  and  German)  and  Driver, 
and  the  commentaries  of  Ber.-Rys.,  and  Paton. 

The  Hebrew  of  Esther  resembles  closely  that  of 
Chronicles,  Daniel,  and  especially  that  of  Ecclesiastes, 
only  that  as  this  book  is  the  latest  in  the  O.T.  it  has 
some  fresh  marks  of  a  later  date. 

(2)  Matter.  The  book  reflects  a  period  of  strong 
national  spirit  and  pride,  a  rebound  from  a  feeling  of 
depression  and  shame  which  seems  to  have  but  recently 
passed  away.  Some  great  victory  on  the  part  of  the  Jews 
over  their  foes  appears  to  be  at  the  back  of  the  book  and 
to  form  a  large  part  of  the  inspiration  of  the  writer.  Such 
a  state  of  things  existed  about  130  B.  C,  at  the  close  of 

^  Antiq.  xi.  6. 


INTRODUCTION  301 

the  Maccabean  wars,  and  this  date  or  one  near  it  has 
been  generally  fixed  upon  by  recent  scholars.  The 
embittered  narrow  national  sentiment  of  the  book  suits 
no  period  so  well  as  this   one. 

The  references  to  Jewish  proselytes  in  viii.  17  and  ix.  27 
prove  that  the  book  could  not  have  been  written  earlier 
than  the  third  century  B.  c. 

That  the  author  was  a  Jew  is  made  evident  by  the 
intense  nationalism  which  he  displays  and  also  by  the 
excellent  Hebrew  in  which  he  writes,  ii,  5  gives  some 
support  to  the  view  that  he  was  a  Benjamite.  The  fact 
that  he  makes  no  reference  to  Jerusalem,  the  Temple, 
sacrifice,  or  the  feasts,  goes  far  to  prove  that  he  was 
not  a  resident  at  Jerusalem,  or  even  in  Palestine.  The 
Persian  words  he  uses  and  the  Persian  complexion  which 
the  book  bears  makes  it  likely  that  he  had  lived  long  in 
Persia,  though  more  than  that  one  may  not  say  with  any 
confidence. 

VII.  The  Feast  Purim  and  the  Word  'Pur.' 

The  present  writer  has  of  set  purpose  held  back  his 
necessarily  brief  discussion  of  the  above  points  to  the 
close  of  this  Introduction,  as  he  is  of  opinion  that  a  clear 
conception  of  the  aim  and  drift  of  this  book  can  be 
obtained  without  their  consideration.  Opinions  on  both 
these  questions  have  been  so  numerous  and  conflicting 
that  they  are  greatly  in  danger  of  hiding  the  main  issue 
and  of  confusing  the  reader.  In  order  to  understand  the 
plays  of  Shakespeare  one  is  not  bound  to  know  all  or 
much  about  the  sources  which  he  has  used,  though  for 
a  history  of  the  plays,  as  for  a  history  of  the  rise  of 
Esther,  a  study  of  sources  is  unavoidable.  For  the  view 
of  the  book  which  has  been  given  ^  it  is  necessary  to 
assume  that  the  Feast  of  Purim  is  of  non-Jewish  origin,  but 
that  it  came  to  have  such  vogue  among  Jews  that  it  could 


302  ESTHER 

not  be  got  rid  of.  It  was  therefore  made  into  a  Jewish 
feast  and  commended  by  a  romance  based  on  Babylonian 
(or  Persian?)  mythology,  which  served  to  express  and 
foster  the  patriotism  which  recent  events  had  called  forth. 
Many  scholars,  however^  hold  that  this  feast  arose  for  the 
first  time  on  Jewish  ground,  most  of  these  holding  with 
J.  D.  Michaelis,  Reuss,  &c.,  that  it  was  instituted  to 
commemorate  the  victory  of  Judas  Maccabaeus  over 
Nicanor,  general  of  the  Syrian  army,  on  the  13th  Adar, 
161  B.  c}  Paul  Haupt  ably  and  interestingly  defends  this 
view  in  his  Purzm.^  If,  however,  the  festival  had  a  Jewish 
origin  it  must  have  received  a  Jewish  name.  But  Ptir  is 
admittedly  not  a  Hebrew  word,  and  Haupt  himself 
derives  it  from  *  an  old  Persian  equivalent  of  the  Vedic 
ptirti  =  portion ' :  so  Purijn  =  portions,  gifts  (Esther 
ix.  19,  22).  Moreover,  no  Jew  at  this  period  of  national 
awakening  and  of  narrow  national  zeal  would  have  dreamt 
of  calling  in  a  tale  based  on  heathen  mythology  to  bolster 
up  a  native  feast. 

The  view  which  commands  the  strongest  support 
among  modern  scholars  is  that  which  regards  Purim  as 
the  continuation  of  the  Babylonian  New  Year's  Feast  Zag- 
muk  held  in  the  month  Nisan  (March-April  :  see  on  Ezra 
X.  9,  17).  So  Zimmern^,  Jensen,  Noldeke,  Winckler,  and 
Frazer*.  Zimmern,  following  a  hint  of  Lagarde,  derived 
pur  from  the  Babylonian  piikhru  ('  an  assembly '),  another 
name  of  the  above  Babylonian  feast,  so  called  because  on 
that  day  the  gods,  presided  over  by  Marduk,  met  in 
assembly  to  decide  by  lot  the  events  of  the  opening  year. 
It  is,  however,  hard  to  see  how ///-r can  come  {rompuMru, 
and  Zimmern  has  now  abandoned  this  etymology  ^ 

Zimmern  further  connects  the  names  *Mordecai' and 
'Marduk ^'  and  the  names  'Esther'  and  '  Ishtar,' as  is 

^  See  I  Mac.  vii.  40-45  ;  Jos.  Antiq.  xii.  408. 
2  8vo,  pp.  S3,  Leipzig,  1906.      ^  stade's  ZA  TIV.  1891,  157  ff. 
*  Golden  Bough"^,  iii.  p.  151  flf.  ^  See  KATS')  518. 

^  lb.  395 ;  see  on  Esther  ii.  5. 


INTRODUCTION  303 

now  generally  done.  Jensen  has  pointed  out  the  mteresting 
coincidence  that  Marduk  and  Ishtar  are  cousins.  But  it 
must  be  admitted  that  Marduk  the  god  and  Mordecai  the 
Jew  play  very  different  parts,  and  it  is  to  be  noted  that 
Zagmuk  was  held  in  the  very  beginning  of  Nisan,  Piirim 
in  the  middle  of  the  preceding  month. 

Jensen  has  developed  the  theory  of  Zimmern  still  further, 
making,  however,  many  modifications  as  well  as  additions. 
He  holds  that  in  Esther  the  principal  source  is  Baby- 
lonian, but  that  Elamite  mythology  has  been  also  drawn 
upon,  and  in  particular  the  Gilgames  legend,  which 
Jensen  makes  the  source  of  most  of  the  tales  in  the  O.T., 
the  Iliad,  and  of  even  the  life  of  Christ.  Hadassah, 
Esther's  other  name  =  the  Babylonian  hadashattc,  bride, 
used  as  a  title  for  goddesses. 

Haman  =  Humban  or  Humman,  the  chief  god  of  the 
Elamites,  in  whose  chief  city,  Susa,  the  events  of  the  book 
occur  (yet  Haman  was  no  god  !).  Vashti  is  connected 
with  the  Mashti  or  Vashti  of  the  Elamite  inscriptions. 
Other  names  in  the  book  are  similarly  explained.  Jensen 
derives  Pur  from  a  hypothetical  Babylonian  ptcru  or  bum 
=  '  a  stone,'  then  (but  what  proof  is  there  of  this  ?)  *  a  lot ' ; 
but  we  now  know  that  the  word  should  be  read  barti. 

Bruno  Meissner^  adopting  most  of  what  Zimmern  says, 
holds  that  we  have  at  the  basis  of  Esther  an  Ishtar,  not 
a  Marduk  legend. 

Lagarde  traces  the  Purim  Feast  to  the  Persian  All- 
Saints  Festival  held  in  honour  of  the  departed,  and  the 
word  pur  to  the  Persian  name  of  that  Feast  of  the  Dead, 
Farwardigdn.  In  this  etymology  he  was,  however,  anti- 
cipated by  von  Hammer  in  1872,^  and  even  by  that 
rare  English  theologian  and  Orientalist,  Thomas  Hyde 
(d.  1703),  who  assisted  Walton  in  his  Polyglot,  and  wrote 
a  very  learned  work  in  Latin  on  the  '  Religion  of  the 
Ancient  Persians.'     But  this  derivation  has  been  proved 

1  ZDMG.  1896,  p.  266,  &c.  =  IVien.  Jahrb.fiit  Lit. 

X 


304  ESTHER 

to  be  philologically  impossible  ^  and  Lagarde  himself  gave 
it  up  in  later  years  in  favour  of  an  etymology  (the  Mandaic 
puJr,'d,  meal)  said  to  be  akin  to  that  afterwards  adopted 
by  Kommel  and  Zimmern  "^  {pukhru, '  a  festive  assembly '). 

Schwally^  accepts  Zimmern's  former  etymology  pukhm, 
but  with  it  combines  Lagarde's  identification  of  the  feasts 
Purimandthe  Persian  Farwardigan.  In  both  there  is  feasting, 
in  the  latter  the  dead  being  supposed  to  share  (cf.  Jer.  xvi.  7) ; 
in  both  presents  were  exchanged.  With  Schwally,  as  later 
with  Jensen,  the  descent  of  Gilgames  into  the  lower  world 
sugge3ted  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  \  The  absence 
of  Divine  names  from  the  book  is  to  be  attributed  (Schwally 
thinks)  to  the  unwillingness  of  Jewish  scholars  to  admit 
the  book  into  the  Canon  unless  the  name  of  God  was  left  out 
of  a  composition  admittedly  based  on  the  cult  of  ancestors. 

Gratz's  theory  of  a  Greek  origin  for  Purim  (  =  Pithorgia) 
and  his  Hebrew  etymology  of  the  word  [purah,  'winepress,' 
so  previously  J.  D.  Michaelis)  have  found  no  followers. 

For  full  and  excellent  discussions  of  the  whole  question 
see  Introductions  to  the  commentaries  of  Wildeboer  and 
Paton,  and  the  monographs  by  Paul  Haupt  (already 
mentioned),  Wilhelm  Erbt,  Die  Ptirimsage  in  der  Bibel 
(Berlin,  1900),  and  (from  the  Jewish  conservative  point  of 
view)  Sigmund  Jampel,  Die  Beiirteilung  des  Estherbuches 
und  des  Puri^nfestes  (Pressburg,  1905). 

For  interesting  accounts  of  the  mediaeval  and  modern 
observance  of  Purim  see  I.  Abraham's  yi^w/j/^  Life  in  the 
Middle  Ages,  p.  260  ff.  (he  calls  it  the  Jewish  Carnival), 
Jeiuish  Encyc, '  Purim,'  and  The  Home  atid  Synagogue  of 
the  Mode7'n  feiu,^.  139  ff.  The  thirteenth  day  is  observed 
as  a  fast.  On  the  fourteenth  the  Roll  of  Esther  is  read. 
The  fifteenth  is  kept  as  a  very  merry  day,  many  excesses 
(drinking,  &c.)  being  often  indulged  in. 

^  See  Haupt,  op.  cit.  p.  21.  2  ZATW.  1891,  157  ff. 

'  Das  Lehen  nach  dent  7 ode  (1892),  p.  42-5. 
*  See  this  matter  ably  discussed  by  Orr,   The  Resurrection 
of  Jesus,  242  ff. 


INTRODUCTION  305 

For  list  of  abbreviations  see  pp.  35  ff. 
Literature. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  important  exegetical  works  on 
Esther  used  by  the  author,  most  of  them  referred  to  in  the 
notes.  The  present  writer  has  consulted  many  other  works, 
ancient  and  modern,  though  in  every  case  he  has  tried  to  give 
his  own  judgement  after  consulting  the  text,  versions,  Tar- 
gums,  &c. 

The  commentaries  by  the  following  include  Esther  as  well 
as  Ezra-Nehemiah  (see  p.  36)  : — 

Adeney,  W.  P.,  Bertheau  and  Ber.-Rys.,   Kamphausen,  Keil, 
Oettli,  Rawlinson,  F.  W.  Schultz,  Siegfried. 

Note  besides  commentaries  on  Esther  by  the  following : — 
Cassel,  D.  :  Trans,  by  A.  Bernstein. 

Haley,  J.  W.  (and  others) :  Many  useful  hints  and  references. 
Paton,    L.   B.   (T.   &   T.   Clark) :    The    most   up-to-date   com- 
mentary existing  and  the  fullest  in  English,   though  the 
writer  withholds  his  own  opinion  too  much  or  it  is  lost 
in  the  details  of  other  opinions. 
Scholz,  A.  (German)  :  Contains  a  great  mass  of  materials,  but 

very  fanciful  in  its  interpretations. 
Streane,  A.  W.  :  Camb.  Bible,  short  but  good  and  reliable. 
Wildeboer,  D.  G.  (^German) :   Brief  but  scholarly. 

The  following  new  and  suggestive  essay  came  into  the 
author's  hands  as  the  proofs  of  the  present  work  were  being 
corrected  : — Le  Prologue — Cadre  des  Mille  et  Uue  Nuits  :  Les 
Le'gendes  perses  et  Le  Livre  d' Esther,  par  J.  Cosquin,  Paris, 
1909 :  see  p.  363. 


X  3 


THE   BOOK   OF   ESTHER 

1      Now  it  came  to  pass  in  the  days  of ''^Ahasuerus,  (this  is 
^  Or,  Xerxes     Heb.  Ahashverosh. 

[Apoc.  Esther  xi.  2-xii.  6.  Mordecai's  dream  ;  the  manner 
in  which  he  secured  the  king's  favour.]^ 

Ch.  I.  The  King  makes  two  Banquets  (i-8)  and  the  Queen 
ONE  (9).  The  Queen  put  away  for  her  Disobedience  to 
the  King  (10-22). 

1-4.    The  king's  banquet  foy  his  officials. 

1.  Now  it  came  to  pass :  the  Hebrew  for  this  is  that  usually 
translated  'And  it  came  to  pass,'  and  it  implies  generally  a  con- 
nexion with  something  preceding.  It  suitably  begins  the  historical 
books  Joshua,  Judges,  Samuel,  and  Nehemiah,  since  such  a  con- 
nexion exists,  but  this  is  not  the  case  in  the  first  verse  of  Ruth, 
Ezekiel,  Jonah,  or  in  the  present  verse.  In  fact  *  waw  consecu- 
tive '  construction  became  in  course  of  time  a  tense  form  pure  and 
simple,  and  it  should  be  here  so  regarded.  Render  therefore, 
'  It  came  to  pass,'  &c.  In  non-Semitic  languages,  including  classi- 
cal (not  Hellenistic,  but  cf.  the  views  of  Deissmann,  Thumb  and 
Moulton)  Greek,  the  main  verb  would  not  be  thus  introduced. 
Arab.,  Heb.,  &c.,  instead  of  saying  'And  Jesus  spake'  would 
prefer,  '  And  it  came  to  pass  that  Jesus  spake.' 

Ahasuerns  :  though  the  LXX,  Jos.,  render  Artaxerxes  (see 
Ezra  iv.  7)  no  other  king  than  Xerxes  (485-465  b.  c.)  can  be  meant. 
This  has  been  generally  admitted  by  scholars  from  a  comparison 
of  what  is  said  in  Herodotus,  &c.,  and  in  this  book.  Of  no  other 
Persian  king  could  the  author  of  Esther  write  as  he  does  of  the  king 
mentioned  in  this  verse.  The  question  has,  however,  been  finally 
set  at  rest  by  the  deciphering  of  the  trihngual  inscriptions  of 
Behistun,  in  the  Babylonian  column  of  which  the  name  of  this 
king  appears  in  a  form  differing  very  little  from  the  Hebrew 
{Akhashwerosh),  here  transliterated  Ahasuerus  :  see  on  Ezra  iv.  6. 
this  is  Ahasuerus,  &c.  :  added  to  distinguish  him  from 
others  with  the  same  name. 

*  The  Apocryphal  additions  occur  in  the  LXX  where  in  this 
Commentary  the  passages  are  mentioned  as  above  in  square 
brackets. 


ESTHER  1.  2,  3  307 

Ahasuerus  which  reigned,  from  India  even  unto  Ethiopia, 
over  an  hundred  and  seven  and  twenty  provinces :)  that  2 
in  those  days,  when  the  king  Ahasuerus  sat  on  the  throne 
of  his  kingdom,  which  was  in  Shushan  the  ^palace,  in  the  3 
third  year  of  his  reign,  he  made  a  feast  unto  all  his 
princes  and  his  servants  ;  the  power  of  Persia  and  Media, 
*  Or,  castle 

from  India  .  .  .  Ethiopia,  an  hundred  and  seven  and 
twenty  provinces  :  so  viii.  9,  Apoc.  Esther  xiii.  i,  xvi.  i,  and  (of 
Darius  Hystaspis)  i  Esd.  iii.  2.  India  (Heb.  Hoddu,  from  the 
Old  Pers.)  denotes  here,  as  in  classical  geography,  the  territory 
watered  by  the  seven  streams  of  the  Indus  (whence  it  gets  its 
name)  and  not  the  entire  peninsula  now  so  called.  Ethiopia 
(Heb.  Kttsh)  stands  for  Nubia. 

over :  omit  ;  it  is  not  in  the  Heb.  The  following  words  are 
simply  an  explanation  of  from  India  even  unto  Ethiopia. 

The  phrase  an  hundred  and  seven  and  twenty  provinces  (see 
the  other  examples  of  its  use)  is  a  gross  exaggeration,  exceeded, 
however,  by  Josephus,  who  says  ^  that  Darius  the  Mede  exercised 
rule  over  360  provinces,  though  in  the  present  passage  he  agrees 
with  the  M.  T.  According  to  Dan.  vi.  2  the  kingdom  of  Darius  the 
Mede  contained  120  provinces.  Herodotus  2,  on  the  other  hand, 
says  that  Darius  divided  his  kingdom  into  20  satrapies,  and  con- 
temporary Darius  inscriptions  confirm  this.  It  is  quite  possible 
that  we  are  here,  as  certainly  in  Ezra  ii.  i,  Neh.  vii.  6,  to  under- 
stand sub-satrapies.  But  we  have  no  non-biblical  confirmation  of 
such  usage  except  in  Josephus,  who  follows  the  O.T.  almost 
exclusively. 

2.  Shushan  the  palace :  better,  <  Susa  the  fortress.'  In  ix 
the  fortified  part  of  Susa  (ver.  7)  is  distinguished  from  the  rest  of 
Susa  (ver.  15)  ;  see  on  ii.  5  and  on  Neh.  i.  2. 

3.  in  the  third  year  :  i.  e.  in  483. 

feast:  lit.  *a  drinking  meal,'  'a  sj'^mposium,'  because  drink- 
ing wine,  &c.,  formed  the  principal  part.  But  (see  on  v.  4)  what 
was  the  purpose  of  so  representative  a  banquet  1  No  one  knows, 
though  many  guesses  have  been  made. 

princes:  render,  'officials'  (see  on  Ezra  ix.  i).  Govern- 
ment officials  are  meant. 

servants :   members  of  the  royal  court,  stewards,  and  the 

^  Antiq.  X.  11.5;  lit.,  'He  (Daniel)  was  one  of  the  three  satraps 
whom  he  (Darius  the  Mede)  appointed  over  the  360  satrapies.' 
2  iii.  8q. 


3o8  ESTHER  1.4,5 

the  nobles   and  princes  of  the  provinces,  being  before 

4  him  :  when  he  shewed  the  riches  of  his  glorious  kingdom 
and  the  honour  of  his  excellent  majesty  many  days,  even 

5  an  hundred  and  fourscore  days.  And  when  these  days 
were  fulfilled,  the  king  made  a  feast  unto  all  the  people 
that  were  present  in  Shushan  the  palace,  both  great  and 
small,  seven  days,  in  the  court  of  the  garden  of  the  king's 


like,  courtiers  (see  iii.  21,  iv.  11,  v.  11  ;  i  Kings  v.  15;  Jer.  xxxvi. 
24,  &c.). 

the  power  of  Persia,  &c. :  read  (with  Ryss.,  Buhl,  &c.), 
'  (servants)  and  the  officers  of  the  army  of  Persia,'  &c.  The  words 
corresponding  to  'and  the  officers  of  have  fallen  out  by  haplo- 
graphy. 

Persia  and  Media:  a  Medo-Persian  kingdom  was  founded 
by  Cyaxares  the  Mede  (635-584).  In  549  Cyrus  the  Persian 
became  head  of  what  came  to  be  known  as  tlie  equivalent  of  Perso- 
Media  or  Persia  and  Media. 

nobles :  the  word  in  the  M.  T.  is  a  Hebrew  form  of  the 
Persian  =*  first  men.'  The  members  of  the  aristocracy  are 
meant. 

4.  Render,  *  When  he  showed  (them)  his  glorious  royal  wealth 
and  the  costliness  (lit.  *  preciousness  ')  of  his  majesty's  apparel.' 

an  hundred  and  fourscore  days:  not,  of  course,  to  be 
understood  literally — it  is  part  of  the  romance.  No  banquet  could 
last  so  long  which  had  in  it  so  many  government  functionaries 
from  all  parts  of  the  known  world.  Clericus  tries  to  evade  the 
difficulty  by  imagining  that  the  guests  partook  of  the  banquet  in 
successive  batches,  but  there  is  no  hint  of  that  here. 

5-8.  The  king's  banquet  for  non-official  residents  and  visitors — 
the  people,  &c.  It  is  possible,  and  is  usually  taken  for  granted, 
that  the  participants  in  the  first  banquet  shared  also  in  this,  but  it 
seems  to  the  present  writer  improbable. 

5.  that  were  present :  the  Heb.  ( =  'that  could  be  found ')  in- 
cludes visitors  as  well  as  residents  (see  on  Ezra  viii.  25). 

in  the  court,  &c.  :  in  the  enclosed  court  paved  with  mosaic 
which  (court)  formed  part  of  the  park  or  '■  paradise '  surrounding 
the  royal  palace  (see  Xen.  Cyro.  i.  3,  12,  14). 

6.  The  text  is  evidently  very  corrupt,  and  every  critical  editor 
has  his  own  way  of  restoring  (?)  it.  The  following  rendering  in- 
volves changes  which  are  few  and  for  the  most  part  vouched  for 
in  the  versions  :  '  The  awnings  were  of  blue  cotton  fastened  '  (the 
participle,  though  singular,  may  in  good  Hebrew  qualify  'awn- 


ESTHER  1.  6-8  309 

palace;  there  were  hangings  of  ^\s\i\iQ doth^  ^/^green,  and  6 

of  blue,  fastened  with  cords  of  fine  linen  and  purple  to 

silver  rings  and  pillars  of  marble  :  the  couches  were  of 

gold  and  silver,  upon  a  pavement  cof  red,  and  white,  and 

yellow,  and  black  marble.     And  they  gave  them  drink  in  7 

vessels   of  gold,   (the   vessels   being   diverse   one  from 

another,)  and  royal  wine  in  abundance,  according  to  the 

<i bounty  of  the  king.     And  the  drinking  was  according  8 

*  Or,  fine  cloth,  white  and  blue  ^  Or,  cotton 

'^  Or,  0/  porphyry,  and  white  marble,  and  alabaster,  and  stone  of 
blue  colour  ^  Heb.  hand. 

ings  ')  '  by  purple  linen  cords  '  (omit  ^  and  '  before  '  purple')  '  to 
silver  rings  (or  rods  ?)  and  (to)  white  marble  pillars.' 

white  cloth:  Heb.  (one  word)  'whiteness.'  Read,  'awnings,' 
the  Heb.  word  for  the  latter  (yri'oih)  could  be  easily  read  for  that 
in  the  M.  T.  in  a  blurred  copy. 

of  green:  the  word  in  the  M.T.  is  Persian  and  means 
*  cotton.' 

and  {of  blue)  :  omit  and  join  '  cotton  '  to  '  blue,'  '  cotton  of 
blue '  =  (in  Heb.  idiom)  '■  blue  (or  purple")  cotton.' 

rings :  this  rendering  is  supported  by  Cant.  v.  14  (where 
alone  the  word  occurs  besides  here),  by  the  etymology  and  by  the 
sense.  There  were  rings  attached  to  the  marble  pillars,  and  to 
these  the  linen  cords  were  fastened.  The  awnings  would  serve  to 
keep  off  the  intense  heat  and  blaze  of  the  sun. 

conches :  i.  e.  divans  on  which  the  ancient  Persians  reclined 
during  meals.  The  custom,  though  not  originally  a  Hebrew  one, 
existed  among  the  Hebrews  in  the  eighth  century  B.C.  (see  Amos  vi, 
4V  and  in  later  times  was  universal  among  the  Jews.  It  is  still  usual 
in  Palestine,  &c.  The  couches  were  made  of  solid  gold  and  silver, 
not  merely  covered  with  cloth  of  gold  and  silver.  Herodotus 
speaks  of  gold  and  silver  couches  and  tables  among  the  Persians. 

npon  a  pavement :  render,  *  upon  a  mosaic  pavement  of 
alabaster  and  white  marble  and  mother-of-pearl  and  black  marble.' 
The  words  characterizing  the  pavement  are  names  of  materials, 
not  of  colours,  though  there  is  uncertainty  as  to  what  exactly  some 
of  the  terms  denote  as  they  occur  nowhere  else  in  the  O.  T. 

7.  the  vessels  being  diverse:  this  was  the  case  on  very 
grand  occasions.  In  banquets  depicted  on  the  monuments  the 
vessels  are  uniform  in  size,  shape,  and  material. 

(according  to  the)  bounty:  lit.  'hand,'  i.e.  means  of  the 
king.     So  ii.  18  ;  i  Kings  x.  13  ;  cf.  Neh.  ii.  8, 


3ro  ESTHER  1.  9,  10 

to  the  law ;  none  could  compel :  for  so  the  king  had 
appointed  to  all  the  officers  of  his  house,  that  they  should 

9  do  according  to  every  man's  pleasure.  Also  Vashti  the 
queen  made  a  feast  for  the  women  in  the  royal  house 

10  which  belonged  to  king  Ahasuerus.    On  the  seventh  day, 

when   the   heart   of  the  king  was  merry  with  wine,  he 

commanded  Mehuman,  Biztha,  Harbona,  Bigtha,  and 

Abagtha,  Zethar,  and  Carcas,  the  seven  ^^  chamberlains 

*  Or,  eitnuchs  (and  so  in  ver.  12,  &c.) 

8.  (according  to)  the  law:  i.  e.  that  made  for  the  present  occa- 
sion. The  ancient  Persians  are  known  from  Herodotus  and  others 
to  have  been  heavy  drinkers,  and  at  banquets  each  guest  was  ex- 
pected to  drink  at  least  a  certain  minimum  quantity.  During  this 
feast  there  was  perfect  freedom  on  the  matter. 

9.  Vashtt's  banquet  for  the  women  :  why  this  separate  women's 
feast,  for  in  Xerxes'  time  women  in  Persia  could  eat  and  drink  with 
men?  It  was  hardly,  as  some  suppose,  because  there  was  no  room  : 
perhaps  the  writer  unconsciously  projects  into  the  picture  drawn 
the  customs  of  his  own  country  and  time. 

Vashti  :  Xerxes'  wife  according  to  Herodotus  ^  was  Amestris, 
which  may  be  the  same  word  varied  by  phonetic  changes  and  in 
part  by  corruption.  Jensen  identifies  the  name  with  that  of  the 
Elamite  Vashti  (or  Mashti) :  see  p.  303. 

royal  house:  Ht.,  'house  of  the  kingdom.'  The  women's 
banquet  was  held  in  a  part  of  the  palace  proper,  as  was  perhaps 
that  of  the  officials  (ver.  3  ff.). 

lo-iQ.    Vashti  refuses  to  appear  before  the  guests  as  the  king  desires. 

10.  seventh  day :  i.e.  of  the  banquet,  when  the  heart  of  the  king 
was  merry  with  wine.  These  words  are  intended  to  account  for 
the  foolish  request  of  the  king. 

Mehuman,  &c. :  the  spelling  of  these  seven  names  varies 
much  in  the  MSS.  and  versions,  and  their  etymology  is  very  un- 
certain, as  perhaps  they  were  borne  by  men  of  several  nation- 
alities. 

the  seven  (chamberlains)  :  on  the  sacred  number  *  seven  ' 
see  on  Ezra  vii.  14,  and  cf.  ver.  14. 

chamberlains  :  render,  '  eunuchs '  here  and  in  ver.  12,  &c. 
In  Persia,  Assj'ria,  Babylon,  Egypt,  Palestine,  &c.,  men-servants 
w^ho  had  to  wait  on  women  or  to  have  access  to  them  needed  to 
be  eunuchs,  as  is  the  case  in  the  modern  Orient. 

'  vii.  61. 


ESTHER  1.  11-14  311 

that  ministered  in  the  presence  of  Ahasuerus  the  king, 
to  bring  Vashti  the  queen  before  the  king  with  the  crown  1 1 
royal,  to  shew  the  peoples  and  the  princes  her  beauty  : 
for   she   was   fair  to   look   on.     But  the  queen   Vashti  12 
refused  to  come   at   the  king's   commandment  by  the 
chamberlains  :  therefore  was  the  king  very  wroth,  and 
his  anger  burned  in  him.     Then   the  king  said  to  the  13 
wise  men,  which  knew  the  times,  (for  so  was  the  king's 
manner  toward  all  that  knew  law  and  judgement ;  and  the  14 
next  unto  him  was  Carshena,  Shethar ,  Admatha,  Tarshish, 
Meres,  Marsena,  and  Memucan,  the  seven  princes  of 

that  ministered  :    LXX   *  who  were  deacons,*  i.  e.  servants. 

11.  the  crown  (royal)  :  the  word  in  the  M.T.  {kether)  occurs 
here  and  in  ii.  17  of  what  the  queen  wore  and  in  vi.  8  of  what  was 
placed  on  the  king's  horse.  It  occurs  nowhere  else  in  the  O.T. 
Probably  it  is  the  Heb.  form  of  the  Persian  kidans,  a.  tall,  stiff, 
bejewelled  cap  worn  by  Persian  kings  on  the  ancient  moMuments 
The  usual  word  for  crown  is  found  in  viii.  15  for  what  Mordecai 
wore.     See  Layard,  Nineveh  and  its  Remains  ^^\  p.  320,  n.  f. 

13-22.  The  zvise  men  consulted  by  the  king  advise  him  to  put 
Vashti  away. 

13-15.  The  king  consults  his  wise  men,  showing  that  there  was 
no  law  dealing  with  the  conduct  of  the  queen. 

13.  wise  men:  usually  explained  as  embracing  (i)  astrologers 
(see  Dan.  ii.  27,  v.  15),  men  *who  knew  the  times,'  and  ''2)  those 
who  understood  the  principles  and  practice  of  equity  (who  'knew 
law  and  judgement'),  i.e.  those  who  sought  guidance  from  the 
Supreme  Mind  as  He  revealed  it  in  the  heavenly  bodies,  and 
those  who  decided  from  their  knowledge  and  experience  of  men's 
way.  But  one  class  only  is  suggested  by  the  words  and  by  the 
context,  the  alternate  descriptions  being  due  merely  to  parallel- 
ism. Those  who  took  knowledge  of  the  times  understood  the 
principles  and  customs  of  the  law  courts. 

for  so,  &c.  :  render,  *  for  so  was  the  king's  business  brought 
before  all  that  knew,'  &c. 

14.  Of  the  wise  men  mentioned  in  ver.  13,  seven  stood  nearest 
the  king,  constituting,  in  fact,  his  privy  council. 

Carshena,  &c.  :  the  exact  spelling  of  these  seven  names  is 
uncertain,  as  the  text  is  corrupt  and  MSS.  and  versions  differ: 
see  on  ver.  10. 

seven  (princes) :  see  on  Ezra  vii.  14,  and  cf.  ver.  10. 


312  ESTHER  1.  15-19 

Persia  and  Media^  which  saw  the  king's  face^  and  sat 

15  first  in  the  kingdom  :)  What  shall  we  do  unto  the  queen 
Vashti  according  to  law,  because  she  hath  not  done  the 
bidding  of  the  king  Ahasuerus   by   the   chamberlains? 

16  And  Memucan  answered  before  the  king  and  the  princes, 
Vashti  the  queen  hath  not  done  wrong  to  the  king  only, 
but  also  to  all  the  princes,  and  to  all  the  peoples  that  are 

17  in  all  the  provinces  of  the  king  Ahasuerus.  For  this 
deed  of  the  queen  shall  come  abroad  unto  all  women,  to 
make  their  husbands  contemptible  in  their  eyes,  when  it 
shall  be  reported.  The  king  Ahasuerus  commanded 
Vashti  the  queen  to  be  brought  in  before  him,  but  she 

18  came  not.  And  this  day  shall  the  princesses  of  Persia 
and  Media  which  have  heard  of  the  deed  of  the  queen 
a  say  the  like  unto  all  the  king's  princes.     So  shall  there 

19  arise  ^much  contempt  and  wrath.     If  it  please  the  king, 

"^  Or,  iell  it  ^  Or,  enough 

16-20.  What  the  wise  men  advised.  Memucan  seems  to  be  the 
spokesman  for  the  whole  body. 

16.  Vashti  had  wronged  the  king  and  set  a  dangerous  example 
to  his  subjects. 

17.  to  make,  &c. :  render  (more  literally"),  'so  that  it  will 
make  them  (the  women)  despise  their  husbands  in  their  eyes,  as 
they  (the  women)  sa}^  the  king,'  &c. 

husbands  :  the  word  =  '  owner,' '  master,'  and  well  suits  the 
connexion.  It  occurs  also  in  Gen.  xx.  3  ;  Deut.  xxiv.  4  ;  Hos.  ii.  15. 
The  common  Hebrew  word  for  husband  is  ish  =  Latin  j/;V,  Greek  aner. 

wben  .  .  .  reported  :  the  Hebrew  may  as  in  the  E.VV.  be 
understood  impersonally  or  as  in  above  rendering  personally.  The 
irregularity  of  the  suffix  in  the  latter  case  will  give  no  Hebraist 
the  least  trouble. 

18.  say:  the  verb  has  no  expressed  object,  but  the  context 
makes  it  quite  clear  that  the  incident  of  Vashti's  refusal  is  intended 
to  be  so  understood  :  '  Shall  .  .  .  say  (about  this)  to  all,*  &c. 

princes  :  see  on  ver.  3. 

So  shall,  8cc.  :  read,  making  a  slight  change  in  the  Heb., 
'and  whenever  (on  the  part  of  the  wife)  there  is  contempt  there 
is  (on  the  part  of  the  husband)  wrath.' 

19.  If  it  please  :  see  on  Neh.  ii.  5. 


ESTHER  1.  20-2  2  313 

let  there   go   forth   a    royal   commandment  from   him, 
and  let  it  be  written  among  the  laws  of  the  Persians 
and    the  Medes,   '"^that   it    be   not  altered,  that  Vashti 
come   no    more  before   king    Ahasuerus ;    and   let   the 
king  give  her  royal  estate  ^unto  another  that  is  better  than 
she.    And  when  the  king's  decree  which  he  shall  make  20 
shall  be  published  throughout  all  his  kingdom,  (for  it  is 
great,)  all  the  wives  shall  give  to  their  husbands  honour, 
both  to  great  and  small.     And  the  saying  pleased  the  21 
king  and  the  princes;  and  the  king  did  according  to 
the  word  of  Memucan  :  for  he  sent  letters  into  all  the  22 
king's    provinces,    into    every    province    according    to 
*  Heb.  that  it  pass  not  away.  ^  Heb.  jinto  her  conipaitioi. 

vinto  another :  the  translation  is  quite  correct,  the  R.Vm. 
*  Heb.  unto  her  companion '  being  inaccurate.  The  same  noun  in 
its  masc.  form  occurs  in  the  idiom  '  (we  must  love)  each  the 
other.' 

20.  great  and  small :  i.  e.  men  of  all  ranks  of  society. 

21  f.  77?^  king  follows  out  the  advice  given  hint. 

22.  letters:  better  'dispatches,'  as  the  former  word  sug- 
gests much  that  is  not  meant.  The  Heb.  noun  is  generally  trans- 
lated 'book'  (books),  see  ii.  23;  Neh.  viii.  i,  &c.  ;  'books'  and 
'  dispatches '  (letters)  differed  then  almost  exclusively  in  size 
only. 

Persia  had  in  the  time  of  Xerxes  (who,  according  to  Herodotus  *, 
founded  it)  an  excellent  postal  service  which  made  use  of  couriers 
(Heb.  *  runners,'  see  iii.  13)  and  horses  (viii.  10).  In  Palestine 
and  other  mountainous  countries  the  couriers  (fleet  footmen)  were 
principally  used,  but  in  level  countries  and  especiallj''  for  great 
distances  these  couriers  rode  on  swift  horses,  making  journej-s 
off  the  main  road  on  foot.  In  Jer.  xii,  5  there  is  a  reference  to  the 
quicker  movement  of  the  horses  as  compared  with  the  footmen. 
Jer.  li.  31  suggests  that  at  the  time  implied  a  courier-post  was  all 
that  existed  in  Babylon.  It  should  be  remembered,  however,  that 
the  ancient  Persian  postal  system,  fully  described  by  Herodotus  ^ 
andXenophon^  was  used  exclusively  by  the  king  and  the  govern- 
ment. The  poorer  people  had  no  official  mode  of  communication. 
province  :  see  on  ver.  7  and  cf.  p.  55. 

^  viii.  98.  ^  Cyr.  viii.  6,  §  17. 


314 


ESTHER  1.  2  2—2.  2 


the  writing  thereof,  and  to  every  people  after  their 
language,  that  every  man  should  bear  rule  in  his  own 
house,  and  should  publish  it  according  to  the  language 
of  his  people. 

2  After  these  things,  when  the  wrath  of  king  Ahasuerus 
was  pacified,  he  remembered  Vashti,  and  what  she  had 

2  done,  and  what  was  decreed  against  her.     Then  said  the 

writing"  .  .  .  langfuage,  «&c :  in  the  dispatches  various 
scripts  (Arabic,  Aramaic,  Assyrian,  Hebrew,  Greek — all  different) 
as  well  as  languages  would  have  to  be  used.  Had  Xerxes  in  his 
court  scribes  capable  of  all  this?  Trilingual  inscriptions  have, 
however,  been  discovered  in  Persia.  But  there  is  reason  for  be- 
lieving that  Aramaic  was  the  lingua  franca  of  the  western  portions 
of  the  Persian  dominions  at  that  time :  cf.  the  recently  found  Aramaic 
papyri.  It  should  be  added  that  in  parts  of  modern  Persia  and 
Russia  postal  arrangements  are  much  the  same  as  is  implied  in 
this  book,  only  not  so  '  up  to  date  ! ' 

every  man  should  bear  rule,  &c.  :  woman  has  always 
held  a  low  place  in  the  East,  though  to  a  less  degree  among  the 
ancient  Persians. 

and  should  publish:  render,  'and  should  speak,'  &c.,  the 
meaning  of  which  appears  to  be  that  the  language  of  the  hus- 
band must  be  that  of  the  home,  so  that  his  wife,  if  a  foreigner, 
must  learn  and  speak  it.  But  it  is  better  (with  Hitzig  and  most 
moderns)  to  read  'and  should  speak  (  =  order)  what  he  pleases.' 
See  on  iii.  12. 

ii.  1-18.     Esther  chosen  Queen  instead  of  Vashti. 
1-4.    The  king,  on  the  advice  of  his  courtiers  resolves  to  select  a 
S7iccessor  to  Vashti  from  virgins  to  be  brought  from  all  parts  of  his 
dominions. 

1.  was  pacified:  Heb,  '  had  subsided'  :  so  vii.  10.  The  verb 
= '  to  sink,'  and  occurs  in  Gen.  viii.  i  (*  and  the  waters  abated^). 

he  remembered  Vashti :  with  remorse  for  what  he  had 
done  and  with  renewed  affection.  He  was  evidently  minded,  if 
possible,  to  take  her  back.  Many  ways  of  evading  this,  the  natural 
sense,  have  been  proposed.  The  LXX  inserts  the  negative 
('  remembered  not '). 

2.  The  courtiers  wished  to  make  the  king's  resolve  irrevocable, 
as  they  had  counselled  the  rejection  of  Vashti.  Hence  the}'  pro- 
pound their  scheme  for  securing  another  queen. 

Wh}'  did  not  the  king  forthwith  raise  to  the  now  vacant  queen- 
ship  one  of  his  concubines  '"see  ver.  14)  or  another  wife — if  he 
had  one? 


ESTHER  2.3,4  315 

king's  servants  that  ministered  unto  him,  Let  there  be 
fair  young  virgins  sought  for  the  king :  and  let  the  king  3 
appoint  officers  in  all  the  provinces  of  his  kingdom,  that 
they  may  gather  together  all  the  fair  young  virgins  unto 
Shushan  the  palace,  to  the  house  of  the  women,  unto  the 
custody  of  '^Hegai  the  king's  chamberlain,  keeper  of 
the  women;  and  let  their  things  for  purification  be 
given  them :  and  let  the  maiden  which  pleaseth  the  king  4 
be  queen  instead  of  Vashti.  And  the  thing  pleased  the 
king  ;  and  he  did  so. 

a  Heb.  Hege. 


kingr's  servants  :  see  on  i.  3. 

3.  officers:  the  Heb.  noun  is  cognate  with  the  verb  which 
governs  it  (Met  the  king  appoint  men  appointecV).,  and  in  Neh. 
xi.  9  (see  on)  is  translated  'overseer.'  In  Nehemiah  the  LXX 
has  episcopos  (our  '  bishop  '),  but  in  the  present  passage  komarkhas, 
or  tillage  chiefs,'  is  the  Greek  word  used. 

provinces  :  see  on  i.  i. 

virgins:  this  specification  was  more  needful  then,  and  in 
the  East  is  still,  than  with  us. 

Sliushan  the  palace  :  see  on  i.  2  and  especially  on  Neh.  i.  2. 

house  of  the  women  :  the  harem  or  guyiaikeion,  situated  (as 
recent  excavations  go  to  show)  at  the  north-west  of  the  com- 
plex of  royal  buildings.  In  ver.  8  it  is  called  the  'king's  house,' 
an  expression  which  in  ver.  9  and  iv,  13  stands  for  the  palace 
buildings  as  a  whole,  though  in  ii.  13  and  v.  i  it  denotes  the  king's 
private  apartments. 

Hegai :  in  the  Hebrew  we  have  in  this  chapter  two  spell- 
ings for  this  name,  Hege  and  Hegai.     The  latter  is  correct. 

chamberlain:  i.e.  eunuch  (see  on  i.  10).  Hegai  could  not 
have  had  access  to  these  women  norShaashgaz  to  the  concubines 
(ver.  14)  had  they  not  been  eunuchs. 

things  for  purification :  lit.  '  things  to  rub  with,'  i.  e.  cos- 
metics, specified  in  ver.  12.  These  had  to  be  applied  for  a  whole 
year  before  the  several  candidates  presented  themselves  for  the 
royal  hand  (see  ver.  12},  as  if  twelve  months  could  do  more 
than  twelve  days  or  even  hours  towards  the  desired  end  (attrac- 
tiveness). 

4.  and  let  the  maiden  ...  be  queen  :  on  the  improbability  of 
such  a  method  of  choosing  a  queen  see  Introd.,  p.  298. 


3i6  ESTHER  2.  5,6 

5  There  was  a  certain  Jew  in  Shushan  the  palace,  whose 
name  was  Mordecai,  the  son  of  Jair,  the  son  of  Shimei, 

6  the  son  of  Kish,  a  Benjamite ;  who  had  been  carried 
away  from  Jerusalem  with  the  captives  which  had  been 

5-7.  Short  account  of  Mordecai  and  his  cousin  Esther.  This  sec- 
tion is  introduced  here  because  the  story  cannot  go  further  for- 
ward without  it.  In  the  Hebrew,  where  connexion  is  generally 
indicated  (by  '  waw-consecutive,'  &c.),  there  is  nothing  joining 
this  paragraph  with  what  precedes,  suggesting  that  we  have  some- 
thing brought  in  ab  extra,  though  this  conclusion  is  not  inevitable. 
5.  a  Jew  in  Shtishan  the  palace :  there  must  have  been  a 
goodly  number  of  Jews  resident  in  the  fortified  part  of  Susa  (ix.  7) 
as  well  as  in  the  city  itself  ix,  15).  Some  would  belong  to  the 
army,  some  would  be  in  business  (for  the  fortress  quarters  must 
have  contained  business  houses),  while  others  would  act  as  arti- 
sans, servants,  &c.  '  The  palace '  is  a  very  inaccurate  and  mis- 
leading translation. 

Mordecai :  usually  explained  as  = '  a  devotee  of  the  (Babylo- 
nian) god  Marduk '  ( ^  Merodach)  ^  This  does  not  mean,  however, 
that  every  man  so  called  is  what  the  name  implies,  for  it  was  and 
is  a  frequent  name  among  Jews.  Every  man  called  '  Thomas '  is  not 
a  twin,  nor  is  every  one  called  *  Fisher'  what  the  name  implies. 

the  son  of  Jair,  &c.  :  the  word  ben  rendered  'son'  means 
here  as  often  fsee  on  Ezra  vii.  i")  descendant,  certainly  in  the  case 
of  Shimei,  David's  bitter  foe  (2  Sam.  xvi.  5  ff.),  and  Kish  the  father 
of  Saul  (i  Sam.  ix.  i,  &c.),  who  are  remote  ancestors  of  Mordecai, 
as  was  also,  perhaps,  Jair.  It  is  perhaps  hinted  that  as  Saul  con- 
quered Agag  (i  Sam.  xv)  so  his  descendant  Mordecai  would  com- 
pass the  ruin  of  Haman  the  Agagite  (iii.  i).  Rawlinson  and  many 
others  hold  that  the  father,  grandfather,  and  great-grandfather  are 
meant,  but  the  coincidence  of  the  two  latter  names  tells  against  this. 

a  Benjamite :  referring,  according  to  Hebrew  usage, 
directly  to  Mordecai,  though  for  that  reason  applicable  to  the 
other  names, 

8.  who  had  been,  &c.  :  the  word  can  belong  tq  Mordecai  only, 
as  he  is  the  main  subject  of  verses  5  f.  But  in  this  verse  the  writer 
is  guilty  of  an  anachronism,  for  Jeconiah  (  =  Jehoiachin,  2  Kings 
xxiv.  4)  and  his  fellow  exiles  were  removed  to  Babylon  in  598, 
115  years  before  the  period  implied  in  the  present  context.  For 
the  real  purpose  of  the  story,  however,  this  error  makes  no  differ- 
ence, though  it  is  an  artistic  flaw.  No  doubt,  in  the  mind  of  the 
writer,  this  Mordecai  is  identical  with  the  man  of  that  name  men- 
tioned in  Ezra  ii.  2  (see  on)  and  Neh.  vii.  7  :  so  both  Targums  here. 

^  See  p.  302. 


ESTHER  2.  7,8  ^x^ 

carried  away  with  •'^Jeconiah  king  of  Judah,  whom 
Nebuchadnezzar  the  king  of  Babylon  had  carried  away. 
And  he  ^brought  up  Hadassah,  that  is,  Esther,  his  uncle's 
daughter  :  for  she  had  neither  father  nor  mother,  and  the 
maiden  was  fair  and  beautiful ;  and  when  her  father  and 
mother  were  dead,  Mordecai  took  her  for  his  own 
daughter.  So  it  came  to  pass,  when  the  king's  command- 
ment and  his  decree  was  heard,  and  when  many  maidens 
were  gathered  together  unto  Shushan  the  palace,  to  the 
custody  of  Hegai,  that  Esther  was  taken  into  the  king's 
•^  In  2  Kings  xxiv.  6,  Jehoiachin.  "^  Heb.  nourished. 

Nebuchadnezzar :  more  correct  would  be  Nehiichodonnozot 

(Haupt,  cf.   LXX  and  Babylonian).     The  older  form  (Jeremiah, 

Ezekiel)  xs,  Nebuchadrezzar  sgq  Jer.  xlix.  28,  &c.);  see  on  Ezraii.  i. 

*l.  he  brought  up  :  lit.   '  he  was  foster-father  to.'     The  same 

Heb.  noun  occurs  in  Num.  xi.  12  ;  Isa.  xlix.  23. 

Kadassah,  that  is,  Esther  :  the  names  are  explained  largely, 
especially  by  the  older  authors,  as  denoting  respectively  *  myrtle ' 
and  'star'  (cf.  Greek  aster).  Why  in  that  case  she  received 
these  names,  and  which  of  them  is  the  original  one,  has  been 
much  disputed  see  Ber.-Rys.,  and  Paton).  The  latest  scholars 
hold  that  we  have  the  original  of  Esther  in  the  name  of  the  Baby- 
lonian goddess  Ishtar  (cf.  Ashtoreth},  and  that  ^Hadassah'  is 
merely  a  Babylonian  title  for  this  goddess  :  see  Introd.,  p.  302  f. 

his  uncle's  daughter  :  Mordecai  and  Esther  were  therefore 
cousins.  The  fact  that  they  lived  in  such  close  relations— for  he 
treated  her  as  a  daughter — has  led  many  to  think  that  Mordecai 
was  a  eunuch.  If  he  was,  this  would  explain  the  ease  with  which 
he  gained  access  to  the  harem,  and  the  fact  that  we  never  read  of 
his  wife  ;  it  would  also  go  well  with  the  view  that  he  was  a  palace 
official  (see  on  ver.  21). 

fair  :  Heb.  '  beautiful  of  form.' 

beautiful :  Heb.  '  good  looking ' ;  lit.  *  good  as  regards 
appearance.' 

8-1 1.  Esther's  entrance  into  the  palace  and  the  favourable  im- 
pression she  made. 

8.  This  verse  (cf.  ver.  3)  takes  up  the  thread  of  the  narrative 
dropped  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  in  verses  5-7. 

was  taken  :  the  Heb.  verb  is  the  regular  one  for  marrying  a 
woman  (Gen.  iv.  19,  vi.  2,  &c.),  and  has  in  it  no  hint  at  the  use 
of  compulsion,  though  according  to  both  Targums  and  Apoc.  Esther 


3i8  ESTHEfl  2.  9,  lo 

house,  to  the  custody  of  Hegai,  keeper  of  the  women. 
9  And  the  maiden  pleased  him,  and  she  obtained  kindness 
of  him  ;  and  he  speedily  gave  her  her  things  for  purifica- 
tion, with  her  portions,  and  the  seven  maidens,  which 
were  meet  to  be  given  her,  out  of  the  king's  house :  and 
he  removed  her  and  her  maidens  to  the  best  place  of 
10  the  house  of  the  women.  Esther  had  not  shewed  her 
people  nor  her  kindred :  for  Mordecai  had  charged  her  that 


xiv.  15,  18,  Esther  had  been  forced  against  her  will  into  the  royal 
harem.  The  natural  impression  which  the  O.T.  story  gives  is  that 
the  two  cousins  are  consenting  parties  all  through,  and  rejoice  ex- 
ceedingly at  Esther's  success  when  she  wins  the  queenship.  All 
this,  as  also  the  fact  that  she  eats  the  food  of  the  heathen — for  her 
nationality  is  kept  a  secret — prove  that  the  Judaism  of  Mordecai  and 
Esther  are  of  a  much  less  stringent  type  than,  say,  that  of  Ezra  and 
Nehemiah,  who  did  so  much  to  put  down  marriages  with  aliens. 

9.  maiden :  i.  e.  Esther. 

pleased  him:  i.  e.  more  than  her  rivals. 

and  he  :  i.  e.  the  king,  though  he  acted  through  his  courtiers. 

speedily  (gave)  :  so  that  her  year  of  preparation  might  the 
sooner  expire  (see  ver.  12). 

thing's  for  purification :  see  on  ver.  3. 

portions:  each  virgin  received  not  only  cosmetics  to  per- 
fume and  beautify,  but  also  special  diet  (see  Dan.  i.  5),  though  the 
special  dieting  is  not  mentioned  in  ver.  12.  Esther  does  not  seem 
to  have  made  any  objection  to  the  food,  though  it  could  not  have 
been  such  as  Jewish  laws  permitted. 

the  (seven  maidens)  that  each  candidate  had  for  attendants. 
Seven  maidens  each  is  implied  in  the  use  of  the  definite  article. 

meet :  lit.  'seen  ' ;  then  '  looked  out,'  and  so  *  selected.' 

the  king's  house  :  here  =  palace  complex,  as  in  iv.  13. 
See  on  ii.  3. 

10.  Esther  had  not  shewed  (O.E.  =  reported,  disclosed)  her 
people  (=- nationality),  nor  her  kindred  (=  family,  and  in  par- 
ticular her  relationship  to  Mordecai). 

To  have  been  known  as  Jewish  must  at  the  time  implied,  it 
not  at  the  time  of  writing,  have  meant  some  disadvantages. 
But  to  have  concealed  these  things  from  the  king,  the  eunuchs, 
and  her  rivals  required  extraordinary  adroitness,  but,  if  true, 
exhibit  but  little  steadfastness  of  principle  on  the  part  of  Esther  or 
her  cousin.     See  on  verses  8  f  and  on  vi.  10. 


J 


ESTHER  2.  11-13  319 

she  should  not  shew  it.  And  Mordecai  walked  every  n 
day  before  the  court  of  the  women's  house,  to  know  how 
Esther  did,  and  what  should  become  of  her.  Now  12 
when  the  turn  of  every  maiden  was  come  to  go  in  to  king 
Ahasuerus,  after  that  it  had  been  done  to  her  according 
to  the  law  for  the  women,  twelve  months,  (for  so  were 
the  days  of  their  purifications  accomplished,  to  wit,  six 
months  with  oil  of  myrrh,  and  six  months  with  sweet 
odours,  and  with  the  things  for  the  purifying  of  the 
women,)  then  in  this  wise  came  the  maiden  unto  the  king,  13 


11.  walked:  Heb,  'used  to  walk.' 

before:  i.e.  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  court:  see  on  Neh. 
xii.  31.  Perhaps  at  the  time  of  the  rising  of  the  sun  each  day  the 
inmates  of  the  palace,  male  and  female,  would  congregate  for 
purpose  of  worship  on  the  sunrise  side  of  the  royal  buildings.  The 
two  cousins  might  thus  easily  meet  daily,  though  silently  recoiling 
from  the  sun-worship  around.  Mordecai's  anxiety  to  learn  of  the 
state  and  prospects  of  his  cousin  must  have  been  great.  One  must 
not  imagine  that  among  the  Persians  in  those  days  the  relations 
between  the  sexes  was  so  strictly  guarded  as  in  the  modem 
Orient. 

12-15.  -^ozt;  the  king  made  the  selection. 

The  candidates  passed  in  turns  (how  the  order  was  settled  we 
do  not  know)  night  by  night  into  the  king's  room,  just  as  was 
done  by  the  wives  of  Pseudo-Smerdis  S  with  which  and  with  the 
present  narrative  compare  the  Introduction  to  the  Arabian  Nights, 
the  tale  of  Shahriar  2. 

12.  twelve  months:  as  if  a  year's  perfuming,  &c.,  could  effect 
more  for  the  beautifying  of  the  virgins  than  say  that  of  twelve 
hours ! 

myrrh  :  Heb.  ntor,  the  same  word. 

sweet  odours :  Heb.  bosem  (in  the  plural),  i.  e.  *  balsam  *  (with 
inserted  '1 '). 

and  (with  the  things)  =  'even,'  the  words  that  follow  merely 
summing  up  the  cosmetics  aforementioned. 

ver.  13  joins  on  to  the  beginning  of  ver.  12,  repeated  here  after 
the  interruption  following  12*.  Render,  '  12  Now  whenever  the 
turn  of  each  girl  was  to  go  in  to  the  king,  &c.  13  Even  (when) 
in  this  (her  turn)  the  girl  came  to  the  king,  whatever  she  used  to 

*  Herod,  iii.  69.  '  See  Additional  Notes,  p.  363. 

y 


320  ESTHER  2.  14-17 

whatsoever  she  desired  was  given  her  to  go  with  her  out 

14  of  the  house  of  the  women  unto  the  king's  house.  In  the 
evening  she  went,  and  on  the  morrow  she  returned  into 
the  second  house  of  the  women,  to  the  custody  of 
Shaashgaz,  the  king's  chamberlain,  which  kept  the 
concubines :  she  came  in  unto  the  king  no  more,  except 
the  king  dehghted  in  her,  and  that  she  were  called  by 

15  name.  Now  when  the  turn  of  Esther,  the  daughter  of 
Abihail  the  uncle  of  Mordecai,  who  had  taken  her  for 
his  daughter,  was  come  to  go  in  unto  the  king,  she 
required  nothing  but  what  Hegai  the  king's  chamberlain, 
the  keeper  of  the  women,  appointed.  And  Esther 
obtained  favour  in  the  sight  of  all  them  that   looked 

16  upon  her.  So  Esther  was  taken  unto  king  Ahasuerus  into 
his  house  royal  in  the  tenth  month,  which  is  the  month 

17  Tebeth,  in   the   seventh  year   of  his   reign.     And  the 

demand  (cosmetics,  jewellery,  &c.)  it  was  the  custom  to  give  her 
to  take  (lit.  enter)  with  her  out  of,'  &c.  Each  girl  was  helped 
in  every  way  to  make  herself  as  winsome  as  she  could. 

Note  in  ver.  13  the  explicit  differentiation  between  the  house 
of  the  women  and  that  of  the  king.     See  on  ver.  3  and  on  v.  i. 

14.  On  the  morning  each  candidate  had  to  leave  the  king's 
room  and  to  pass  into  the  concubines'  department,  not  repeating 
her  visit  to  the  king  unless  specially  requested.  In  the  Arabian 
Nights'  tale  each  maid  had  to  be  killed  in  the  morning. 

Shaashgaz  :  Haupt  says  we  should  read  '  Shashegaz.' 
cliaiuhexlain  :  render  '  eunuch  '  :    see  on  ver.  3  and  i.  10. 

15.  Esther's  personal  charms  were  so  great,  and  she  was  so 
conscious  of  them  (or  was  it  her  modesty  ?)  that  she  desired  no 
special  aid  to  recommend  her  to  the  king. 

Abigail:  in  LXX  here  and  ix.  29  Aminadab  (  =  Abinadab). 
16-18.  Esther  chosen  as  queen. 

16.  was  taken  :  i.  e.  as  wife  (so  Targ.f^))  :  see  on  ver.  8. 

Ms  house  royal :  lit.  '  the  house  of  his  kingdom  '  =  the  house 
of  the  king  in  ver.  13. 

the  tenth  month  :  i.e.  Dec-Jan. :  see  on  Ezra  x,  i6. 

Teheth:  a  Babylonian  name,  nowhere  else  mentioned  in 
the  O.T. 

in  the  seventh  year:  i.e.  in  478,  four  years  after  Vashti's 


ESTHER  2.  i8,  19  321 

king  loved  Esther  above  all  the  women,  and  she  obtained 
grace  and  favour  in  his  sight  more  than  all  the  virgins ; 
so  that  he  set  the  royal  crown  upon  her  head,  and  made 
her  queen  instead  of  Vashti.  Then  the  king  made  a  18 
great  feast  unto  all  his  princes  and  his  servants,  even 
Esther's  feast ;  and  he  made  a  ^  release  to  the  provinces, 
and  gave  gifts,  according  to  the  ^  bounty  of  the  king. 
And  when  the  virgins  were  gathered  together  the  second  19 

*  Heb.  rest.  b  Heb.  hand. 

deposition  (i.  3).  It  was  during  this  period  that  Xerxes  con- 
ducted his  ill-starred  expedition  into  Greece,  the  battle  of  Salamis 
taking  place  in  480.  Some  ascribe  the  delay  in  making  the  selec- 
tion to  this  expedition.  The  writer,  however,  viewing  those 
years  in  the  distance,  sees  nothing  going  on  in  Susa  but  this  con- 
tinual testing  of  virgins.  We  must  remember  that  we  are  reading 
a  romance  and  not  strict  history. 

17.  above  all  the  women:  i.e.  above  the  concubines  (and 
wives?)  already  in  the  harem  and  the  virgins  who  were  Esther's 
rivals. 

crown  :  see  on  i.  12. 

18.  a  ^eat  feast :  Josephus  says  '  a  wedding  feast.'  Great 
events  were  celebrated  and  distinguished  persons  honoured  by 
banquets  then  as  now. 

release  :  Heb.,  'a  causing  to  rest'  (the  root  in  the  Heb.  for 
Noah),  but  from  what  ?  Probably  from  prison  (see  i  Mace.  x.  33  ; 
Matt,  xxvii.  15),  not  from  taxes  (i  Mace.  x.  29),  which  in  Persia 
were  unknown,  nor  from  military  service  (as  LXX,  Targ.  (^^ 
assume). 

gifts :  the  Hebrew  is  singular,  though  it  may  bear  a  plural 
sense.  The  same  word  in  Jer.  xl.  5  is  translated  '  present ' ;  in 
Amos  v.  II  it  means  '  tribute,'  which  may  be  its  sense  here,  *  he 
gave  (back)  the  tribute,'  though  Persian  custom  is  against  this. 

boxinty  :  see  on  i.  7. 

19-23.  Mordecat  exposes  a  plot  to  take  the  king's  life. 

19.  Render,  *  And  when  the  virgins  were  being  gathered 
together,  then  Mordecai,'  &c.,  referring  back  to  ver.  8. 

the  second  time  :  omit.  The  one  Hebrew  word  so  trans- 
lated was  inserted  from  a  view  of  the  passage  which  assumed 
that  another  assembly  of  girls  took  place  in  addition  to  that 
spoken  of  in  verses  8  ff.  We  have,  however,  in  verses  19-23  an 
episode  which  took  place  while  the  virgins  were  being  brought 
in  (verses  8  fF.).     Haupt  omits  the  verse  on  account  of  its  difficulty, 

Y  2 


322  ESTHER  2.  20-23 

20  time,  then  Mordecai  sat  in  the  king's  gate.  Esther  had 
not  yet  shewed  her  kindred  nor  her  people;  as  Mordecai 
had  charged  her :  for  Esther  did  the  commandment  of 
Mordecai,  like  as  when  she  was  brought  up  with  him. 

21  In  those  days,  while  Mordecai  sat  in  the  king's  gate,  two 
of  the  king's  chamberlains,  Bigthan  and  Teresh,  of  those 
which  kept  the  a- door,  were  wroth,  and  sought  to  lay  hands 

22  on  the  king  Ahasuerus.  And  the  thing  was  known  to 
Mordecai,  who  shewed  it  unto  Esther  the  queen  ;  and 

23  Esther  told  the  king  thereof  in  Mordecai's  name.     And 

'>■  Heb.  threshold. 

and  if  the  words  '  the  second  time  '  are  kept.  Haupt's  suggestion 
is  the  only  possible  one. 

the  kind's  gate  :  a  favourite  resort  of  Mordecai's  (see  ver.  21, 
&c.).  It  stood  probably  at  the  entrance  to  the  palace  grounds, 
and,  like  city  gates  in  the  East  commonly,  it  was  a  place  of 
public  resort  and  perhaps  the  place  where  justice  was  adminis- 
tered. Some  infer,  from  the  fact  that  Mordecai  is  often  mentioned 
in  connexion  with  it,  that  he  was  a  government  official  (see  on 
ver.  7  and  cf.  vi.  10). 

20.  Esther  had  not  yet,  &c. :  a  more  literal  rendering  would 
be,  'Esther  was  not  one  that  declared,*  &c.,  i.  e.  during  these 
proceedings  she  used  to  keep  silent  about,  &c. 

shewed  .  .  .  kindred :  see  on  ver.  10. 

21.  In  those  days  :  i.  e.  while  the  girls  were  being  brought 
(verses  8  ff.  and  19). 

chamberlains  :  render,  '  eunuchs  '  :  see  on  i.  10. 

Bigthan :  called  in  i.  lo  '  Bigtha '  and  in  vi.  2  '  Bigthana.' 

door :  Heb.  *  threshold.'  These  two  men  had  apparently 
charge  of  the  king's  sleeping-room,  and  could  easily  compass  his 
death.  According  to  both  Targs.,  the  plan  hit  upon  was  to  put 
a  venomous  reptile  in  the  king's  cup  when  he  was  about  to  drink. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  this  Xerxes  lost  his  life  in  465  through  a  con- 
spiracy of  the  kind,  as  did  also  Artaxerxes  III  (Ochus)  in  338. 

were  wroth :  why  ?  No  one  knows,  though  the  Targumists, 
commentators,  &c.,  offer  innumerable  explanations  :  see  Berth., 
Ryss.,  and  Paton. 

to  lay  hands  on  :  i.  e.  to  put  to  death  :  so  iii.  6,  ix.  2. 

22.  was  known:  better,  'came  to  be  known.'  How?  We 
are  not  told,  though  here  again  many  surmises  have  been  offered. 

shewed:  see  on  ver.  10. 

in  Mordecai's  name :  if  the  queen  mentioned  her  cousin's 


ESTHER  2.  23—3.  i  323 

when  inquisition  was  made  of  the  matter,  and  it  was 
found  to  be  so,  they  were  both  hanged  on  a  tree :  and  it 
was  written  in  the  book  of  the  chronicles  before  the 
king. 

After  these  things  did  king  Ahasuerus  promote  Haman  3 

name  when  disclosing  the  affair  to  the  king — and  the  words  can 
mean  nothing  else— how  could  the  king  have  so  soon  forgotten  all 
about  it,  especially  as  Persian  kings  were  proverbial  for  the  way 
in  which  they  rewarded  outstanding  merit  among  their  soldiers  ? 

23.  hanged:  better  'impaled*  (so  Streane,  Haupt,  &c.),  this 
being  the  mode  of  capital  punishment  prevalent  in  Persia  at  the 
time  1  :  cf.  *  on  a  tree '  ;  see  on  Ezra  vi.  11.  Death  by  hanging  or 
strangulation  is  but  twice  mentioned  in  the  Bible,  and  in  both 
cases  as  a  mode  of  suicide  :  see  2  Sam.  xvii.  23  and  Matt,  xxvii.  5  ; 
cf.  Nahum  ii.  13,  where  the  same  Hebrew  verb  occurs  as  in  the 
former  passage.  According  to  Joseph.,  Jero.,  and  perhaps  the 
Syr.,  *  crucified  '  is  the  proper  translation,  but  this  was  the  Roman 
mode  of  capital  punishment.  Paton  defends  the  ordinary  render- 
ing hang-ed,  relying  chiefly  on  v.  14  (see  on).  But  up  to  the 
present  (1909)  no  example  has  been  seen  on  the  ancient  monu- 
ments of  Babylon,  Assyria,  or  Persia,  of  hanging  by  the  neck  or 
of  fastening  to  a  cross. 

the  book  of  the  chronicles  :  the  Hebrew  name  for  the 
canonical  '  Books  of  Chronicles,'  though  of  course  the  latter  books 
are  not  here  meant.  The  Hebrew  means  literally  *  the  book  of 
daily  acts,'  i.e.  'the  diary.'  Such  annals  were  preserved  by 
the  kings  of  Persia',  of  Assyria,  Babylonia,  and  also^  of  Israel. 
Herod,  says  that  the  Persian  kings  in  such  records  preserved  the 
names  of  men  who  deserved  special  honour  \  This  book  is  referred 
to  by  a  longer  name  in  vi.  i  f.  See  Mai.  iii.  16 ;  cf.  Isa.  iv.  31  ; 
Ezek.  xiii.  9 ;  Phil.  iv.  3,  &c. ;  and  on  Ps.  cxxxix.  16  {Century 
Bible), 

iii.  i-iv.  17.     Haman's  Promotion  to  be  Grand  Vizier  and  his 
Plot  to  destroy  the  Jews. 

1-6.  Mordecai  refusing  to  bow  before  the  new  prime  minister,  the 
latter  formed  a  design  to  destroy  the  Jews. 

1.  After  these  things :  an  indefinite  statement,  implying  some 
time  between  478  (ii.  16)  and  473  (ver.  7). 

^  See  Herod,  iii.  159,  iv.  43;  Layard,  Nin,  and  Bab.,  p.  355  n. 
The  latter  says  this  mode  of  punishment  obtained  in  Turkey  in  his 
o^vn  time. 

^  Ezra  iv.  15  (see  on).  Her.  vii.  100,  &c. 

'   1  Kings  xiv.  19,  &c.  *  viii.  25. 


324  ESTHER  3.  2,  3 

the  son  of  Hammedatha  the  Agagite,  and  advanced  him, 
and  set  his  seat  above  all  the  princes  that  were  with 
him.  And  all  the  king's  servants,  that  w^ere  in  the  king's 
gate,  bowed  down,  and  did  reverence  to  Haman  :  for  the 
king  had  so  commanded  concerning  him.  But  Mordecai 
bowed  not  down,  nor  did  him  reverence.    Then  the  king's 

Hainan:  originally,  according  to  Jensen,  the  name  of  an 
Elamite  deity  {Humman  or  Huntban)  :  see  Introd.,  p.  303,  and 
Ber.-Rys.,  Paton. 

Hammedatlia :  a  compound  (Jensen  thinks)  of  Haman  and 
a  verb:  perhaps  =  *a  gift  of  Haman'  (  =  'Humman'):  cf. 
'  Theodore  '  and  '  Nathaniel.' 

the  Agag-ite :  i.  e.  probably  a  descendant  of  Agag  (i  Sam. 
xv),  and  therefore  an  Amalekite  :  see  on  ii,  5.  It  is  strange, 
though  perhaps  where  nationalites  were  so  mixed  not  impossible, 
that  an  Amalekite  should  have  been  Persia's  prime  minister.  In 
Great  Britain  a  Jew  (Disraeli)  was  prime  minister  not  very  long 
ago.  There  are  many  other  explanations  of  '■  Agagite ' :  see 
Ber.-Rys.,  and  Paton. 

set  Ms  seat:  render,  'gave  him  a  position.'  The  word 
rendered  'seat'  {kisse)  means  'seat,'  then  'throne'  (see  on  i.  12), 
and  then,  as  here,  'position.' 

above  all,  &c. :    i.  e.  he  made  him  Grand  Vizier,    who  had 
immeasurably  greater  power  than  our  prime  minister. 
2.  the  king-'s  servants  :  see  on  i.  3. 

"bowed  down  (  =  fell  on  their  knees)  and  did  reverence  =  (pros- 
trated themselves)  in  the  true  Oriental  fashion  before  superiors 
and  in  the  manner  of  modern  Mohammedans  during  prayer. 

s^'-e.  Mordecai  refuses  to  join  the  multitude  in  bending,  &c.,  before 
Haman.  Han-tan^s  anger  and  scheme  of  revenge.  What  objection 
could  Mordecai,  though  a  Jew  (ver.  4),  have  to  performing  the 
acts  of  respect  and  submissiveness  for  the  chief  minister  which 
other  subjects  performed,  and  which  accord  with  the  ways  of 
Orientals  to-day?  The  commentators  (Rawlinson,  &c.),  Jewish 
and  Christian,  say  it  was  Divine  homage  that  Haman  demanded. 
Probably,  however,  the  writer  brought  in  this  incident  as  a  literary 
necessity.  It  was  needful  in  some  way  to  explain  the  rivalry  and 
ill-feeling  between  Mordecai  and  Haman,  and  to  make  Mordecai 
deny  to  the  new  prime  minister  the  usual  homage,  whatever  the 
implied  cause,  seemed  a  fit  means  towards  this  end. 

the  king  had  so  commanded :  in  ordinary  cases  no  such 
command  was  necessary.  Perhaps  Haman  had  risen  from  a  low 
family,  and  a  special  command  was  needed  to  secure  the  recog- 
nition ordinarily  shown  to  holders  of  the  office. 


ESTHER  3.  4-7  325 

servants,    that    were    in    the     king's    gate,   said    unto 
Mordecai,  Why  transgressest  thou  the  king's  command- 
ment ?     Now  it  came  to  pass,  when  they  spake  daily  unto  4 
him,  and  he  hearkened  not  unto  them,  that  they  told 
Haman,  to  see  whether  Mordecai's  «' matters  would  stand  : 
for  he  had  told  them  that  he  was  a  Jew.     And  when  5 
Haman  saw  that  Mordecai  bowed  not  down,  nor  did  him 
reverence,    then   was    Haman    full    of    wrath.     But   he  6 
thought  scorn  to  lay  hands  on  Mordecai  alone ;  for  they 
had  shewed   him   the   people   of  Mordecai :   wherefore 
Haman  sought  to  destroy  all  the  Jews  that  were  through- 
out the  whole  kingdom  of  Ahasuerus,  even  the  people 
of  Mordecai.     In  the  first  month,  which  is  the  month  7 

*  Or,  words 

3.  the  king-'s  gate  :  see  on  ii.  19. 

4.  matters  :  perhaps  this  is  a  plural  of  intensity,  *  great  affair ' 
= '  strange  conduct.'  The  R.Vm.  *  words'  may  be  safely  ignored, 
though  the  Hebrew  allows  it. 

(whether  Mordecai's  matters)  would  stand :  better  *  could 
stand,'  i.  e.  judicial  examination,  whether  or  not  the  law  allowed 
such  conduct. 

6.  he  thought  scorn,  &c.  :  Wildeboer  (followed  by  Kent  and 
Paton)  well  expresses  the  sense  of  the  Hebrew,  *  held  it  beneath 
his  dignity  to,'  &c. 

sought  to  destroy,  &c.  :  Rawlinson  and  others  have  pointed 
to  many  Oriental  parallels  to  this  projected  butchery  of  the  Jews, 
as  the  great  massacre  of  the  Magi  {Magophonia)  at  the  accession 
of  Darius  I,  and  the  slaughter  of  the  Scythians  about  a  century 
earlier.  One  may  refer  to  the  butchery  of  whole  hordes  of  Jews 
in  quite  recent  times  in  Russia  and  elsewhere.  If,  however, 
Haman  or  any  other  prime  minister  had  schemed  a  wholesale 
massacre  of  Jews  he  would  have  set  about  it  at  once.  But  it 
was  necessary  for  the  denouement  of  the  tale  that  Mordecai  and 
Esther  should  have  time  and  opportunity  for  the  overthrow  of 
Haman's  project,  and  that  could  be  secured  by  introducing  the 
incident  about  the  lot,  though  the  writer  could  not  have  had 
much  faith  in  such  things.     The  delay  was  literally  *  allotted.' 

7-1 1.  The  king  agrees  to  Haman's  proposal  and  promises  help 
towards  realizing  it. 

7.  the  first  month  .  .  .  Nisan :  see  on  Ezra  x.  9,  17. 


326  ESTHER  3.  7 

Nisan^  in  the  twelfth  year  of  king  Ahasuerus,  they  cast 
Pur,  that  is,  the  lot,  before  Haman  from  day  to  day,  and 

the  twelfth  year,  &c.  :  i.  e.  in  473. 

they  (cast  Pur,  &c.) :  who  ?  In  Hebrew  the  verb  is 
singular,  and  some  make  Haman  the  subject.  It  is,  however, 
probably  a  case  of  the  impersonal  construction  so  common  in 
Hebrew  ('  one  cast,'  &c.  =  '  Pur  .  .  .  was  cast ')  :   see  p.  103. 

Pur :  whatever  the  etymology  of  the  word  (see  Introd., 
pp.  301  ff.),  the  writer  takes  it  to  mean  *  lot,'  which  is  all  one  need 
to  know  in  order  to  follow  the  thread  of  the  tale. 

the  lot:  better  'lots.'  In  Hebrew  the  singular  is  constantly 
used  for  the  plural ;  it  indicates  the  thing  meant.  Or  we  have 
perhaps  the  generic  article  ;  cf.  '  the  lion.' 

Divination  by  lot  (arrows,  strips  of  wood,  or  bits  of  paper, 
pebbles,  &c.)  was  very  widespread  in  ancient  times,^  prevails  still 
among  people  of  low  culture,  and  is  not  dead  even  in  Great 
Britain  among  professedly  Christian  people. 

For  what  purpose  was  the  present  lot  taken  ?  Almost  certainly 
to  find  out  a  lucky  day  for  the  horrid  deed  which  Haman  had  in 
mind  :  so  nearly  all  commentators.  Paton,  however,  argues  that 
the  object  was  to  ascertain  a  lucky  day  on  which  to  lay  the  pro- 
ject before  the  king,  and  he  refers  to  the  fact  that,  as  soon  as 
a  day  had  been  pronounced  lucky,  Haman  went  in  to  the  king 
(ver.  8).  But  Haman  wished  to  present  himself  with  the  decision 
of  the  lot  not  only  as  to  the  day,  but  also  as  to  the  feasibility  of 
the  fact  itself.  To  fix  upon  a  day  for  the  slaughter  carried  with  it 
approval  of  the  slaughter  itself.  Besides  the  day  settled  by  lot 
(see  on  ver.  7)  was  also  that  for  the  massacre  (see  ver.  13  and  cf. 
ix.  18  f.). 

How  was  the  lot  taken  ?  Probably  as  follows  :  There  would 
be  twelve  lots,  marked  i  to  12,  put  into  a  box  ;  whichever  of 
these  was  taken  out  was  to  decide  the  month,  in  the  present 
case  the  twelfth  month  (Adar).  Then  there  would  be  thirty  lots, 
marked  i  to  30,  put  into  the  same  or  a  larger  box ;  whichever  was 
taken  out  was  to  decide  the  day,  in  the  present  case  the  thirteenth 
day  (see  ver.  13). 

The  words  '  from  day  to  day  and  from  month  to  month  '  refer 
merely  to  the  succession  of  numbers  indicating  months  and  days. 
Paton  holds  that  on  every  month  and  day  from  the  first  month 
(ver.  7)  the  lot  was  taken  afresh  to  know  if  the  day  in  question 
was  the  one  for  visiting  the  king.  In  that  case  they  were  drawing 
lots  for  some  eleven  months  ! 


'  See  Magic,  Divination,  and  Demonology  among  the  Hebrews 
and  Related  Peoples,  by  the  present  writer,  p.  75,  &c. 


ESTHER  3.  8, 9  327 

from  month  to  month,  to  the  twelfth  months  which  is  the 
month  Adar.  And  Haman  said  unto  king  Ahasuerus,  8 
There  is  a  certain  people  scattered  abroad  and  « dispersed 
among  the  peoples  in  all  the  provinces  of  thy  kingdom  ; 
and  their  laws  are  diverse  from  those  of  every  people ; 
neither  keep  they  the  king's  laws  :  therefore  it  is  not  ^for 
the  king's  profit  to  suffer  them.  If  it  please  the  king,  9 
let  it  be  written  that  they  be  destroyed:  and  I  will 
pay  ten  thousand  talents  of  silver  into  the  hands  of  those 

*  Or,  separated  ''Or,  meet  for  the  king 

to  the  twelfth  month  .  .  .  Adar:  read  and  render  (with 
LXX,  Old  Lat.,  and  virtually  all  modern  scholars),  '  And  the  lot  fell 
for  the  13th  (LXX  14th)  of  the  month,  Adar.'  The  mistake  in 
the  LXX  (14th  day)  may  be  due  to  the  influence  of  ix.  19.  The 
M.T.  gives  no  sense. 

Adar :  see  on  Ezra  vi.  15  and  x.  9.  Paton  is  wrong  when 
he  says  that  Adar  is  mentioned  only  in  Esther. 

8.  scattered  abroad  :  living  among  people  of  all  nationalities. 
dispersed:    render,  as   in    the    R.Vm.,    'separated':    they 

keep  apart,  do  not  eat  with  or  as  others,  will  not  intermarry,  &c. 
The  description  applies  to  the  Jews  of  to-day.  When  due  to 
religious  principles  the  separateness  of  the  Jew  is  to  his  credit 
rather  than  the  reverse.  No  people  on  the  face  of  the  earth  have 
paid  or  pay  more  dearly  for  their  religion  than  the  Jews. 

their  laws  are  diverse  :  i.  e.  their  religious  laws. 

neither  keep  they  the  king's  laws :  i.  e.  when  opposed  to 
their  religion.     The  same  could  be  said  of  Christian  martyrs. 

not  for  the  king-'s  profit :  probably  better  than  the  R.Vm. 
The  verb  occurs  in  v.  13  ('is  not  enough  for  me'),  vii.  4  (end; 
('not  have  compensated,'  see  on),  and  is  restored  (?)  in  i.  22  (see 
last  note  on). 

9.  If  it  please  the  king :  see  on  Neh.  ii.  5. 
written  :  i.  e.  written  down  as  a  decree. 

I  will  pay,  &c. :  evidently  out  of  his  own  pocket,  not  out  of  the 
proceeds  of  the  Jewish  massacre.    There  is  no  condition  attached. 

ten  thousand  talents  of  silver :  about  £3,360,000  (see  on 
Ezra  viii.  26),  rather  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  annual  revenue 
of  the  Persian  empire.  Rawlinson  calls  attention  to  Pythius, 
who  offered  this  same  king  (not  Darius,  as  Paton  says)  a  gift  of 
money  equal  to  about  4^  millions  sterling^ — a  sum  regarded, 
however,  by  Grote  as  fabulous  and  false.     But  the  requirements  of 

1  Her.  vii.  28. 


328  ESTHER  3.  10-12 

tliat  have  the  charge  of  the  king's  business,  to  bring  it 

10  into  the  king's  treasuries.  And  the  king  took  his  ring 
from   his   hand,    and  gave  it  unto  Haman  the  son  of 

11  Hammedatha  the  Agagite,  the  Jews'  enemy.  And  the 
king  said  unto  Haman,  The  silver  is  given  to  thee, 
the  people  also,  to  do  with  them  as  it  seemeth  good  to 

12  thee.  Then  were  the  king's  «- scribes  called  in  the  first 
month,  on  the  thirteenth  day  thereof,  and  there  was 
written  according  to  all  that  Haman  commanded  unto  the 
king's  satraps,  and  to  the  governors  that  were  over  every 

^  Or,  secretaries 

the  story  and  what  it  is  intended  to  teach  do  not  necessitate  our 
taking  these  details  quite  seriously.  NOldeke  thinks  that  this 
exact  sum  has  been  made  up  by  a  process  of  Rabbinical  calcula- 
tion :  see  E.B.  ii.  1401,  and  Targ.  (2)  here  and  on  iv.  i. 

those  that  have  charge  of  the  kind's  business  :  i.  e.  those 
who  had  charge  of  the  revenues :  see  ix.  3  and  cf.  2  Kings  xii,  1 1 
and  Neh.  xi.  16,  22,  &c. 

10.  Xing:  better  'signet  ring.'  Signatures  are  still  made  in 
the  East  by  seals,  not  by  pens.  By  handing  over  to  Haman  his 
seal  he  gave  him  the  right  of  signing  documents  and  of  thus 
enforcing  his  own  authority  in  the  name  of  the  king  (see  viii.  2,  8  ; 
Gen.  xli.  42;  i  Mace.  vi.  15).  The  seal  was  sometimes  suspended 
from  the  neck  by  a  cord  and  sometimes  attached  to  a  cylindrical 
framework  held  in  the  hand. 

the  Jews'  enemy :  to  be  an  Agagite  meant  this :  see  on 
vii.  6, 

11.  The  king  promises  men  and  money  for  the  gruesome  task. 
It  is  strange,  if  true,  that  Xerxes  should  consent  to  help  in 
butchering  his  Jewish  subjects,  including  those  in  Palestine  ! 

12-15.   The  decree  sent  forth  throughout  the  king's  dominions. 

12.  scribes:  they  must  have  been  very  numerous  or  very 
learned  to  be  able  to  write  in  the  script  and  language  of  each 
nationality  embraced  in  the  Persian  empire  of  the  day :  see  on 
i.  22. 

They  began  their  work  on  the  thirteenth  day  of  the  first  month 
(Nisan),  just  eleven  months  before  the  massacre  was  ordered  to 
take  place  (ver.  13).     For  this  long  interval  see  on  ver.  6. 

satraps :  the  heads  of  the  twenty  Persian  provinces :  see  on 
i.  I  and  on  Ezra  viii.  36. 

governors:  heads  of  sub-satrapies,  such  as  Zerubbabel  and 
Nehemiah  of  Judah :  see  on  i.  i  and  on  Ezra  viii.  36. 


ESTHER  3.  13,  14  329 

province,  and  to  the  princes  of  every  people ;  to  every  pro- 
vince according  to  the  writing  thereof,  and  to  every 
people  after  their  language ;  in  the  name  of  king  Aha- 
suerus  was  it  written,  and  it  was  sealed  with  the  king's 
ring.  And  letters  were  sent  by  posts  into  all  the  king's  pro-  13 
vinces,  to  destroy,  to  slay,  and  to  cause  to  perish,  all 
Jews,  both  young  and  old,  little  children  and  women,  in 
one  day,  even  upon  the  thirteenth  day  of  the  twelfth 
month,  which  is  the  month  Adar,  and  to  take  the  spoil 
of  them  for  a  prey.  A  copy  of  the  writing,  ^  that  the  14 
decree  should  be  given  out  in  every  province,  was 
published  unto  all  the  peoples,  that  they  should  be  ready 

*  Or,  to  be  given  out  for  a  decree 

princes  :  see  on  Ezra  ix.  i. 

13.  posts  :  Heb.  *  runners,'  a  sense  surviving  in  '  /osZ-haste  '  : 
cf.  Job  ix.  25,  '  my  days  are  swifter  than  z  post.''  From  denoting 
the  fixed  positions  between  which  couriers  conveyed  letters,  &c., 
it  came  to  be  used  for  the  couriers  themselves.  In  the  present 
case  horses  do  not  seem  to  have  been  used,  as  speed  was  no 
object.     Contrast  what  is  said  in  viii.  10.     See  on  i.  22. 

to  destroy,  &c. :  note  the  aggregation  of  synonyms  common 
in  legal  documents  :  cf.  viii.  11. 

thirteenth  day  of  the  twelfth  month:  see  on  verses  7,  12. 
The  LXX  (Ap.  Esther  xiii.  6,  in  the  copy  of  the  king's  letter)  has 
'fourteenth  day,'  but  in  ix.  i  it  has  'thirteenth.'  Modern  Jews 
keep  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth,  perhaps  under  the  influence  of 
the  Passover  Feast,  which  begins  Nisan  14th. 

[Ap.  Esther  xiii.  1-7.  The  king's  letter.  This  is  as  anti-Jewish 
a  document  as  was  ever  penned.  In  it  the  Jews  are  spoken  of  as 
*  a  malignant  people  with  laws  differing  from  those  of  all  other 
peoples ;  they  set  at  defiance  the  king's  authorities,  are  all  men's 
foes,  and  work  mischief  of  every  kind.  Wherefore  it  is  they, 
their  wives  and  children,  must  be  consigned  to  Hades.'] 

14.  copy :  see  on  Ezra  iv.  11,  where  the  same  Persian  word  is 
used  with  the  difference  of  one  letter  {t  for  r).  Probably  we 
should  render,  *  a  copy  of  (a  part  of)  the  writing ;  let  the  decree 
be  given  out  in  every  province  and  let  it  be  published  to  all  the 
peoples,'  &c.  The  words  'copy  of  the  writing'  introduce  the 
very  words  of  the  official  letter  to  Artaxerxes  in  Ezra  iv.  11 
(see  on). 


330  ESTHER  3.  15—4.  2 

15  against  that  day.  The  posts  went  forth  in  haste  by  the 
king's  commandment,  and  the  decree  was  given  out  in 
Shushan  the  palace  :  and  the  king  and  Haman  sat  down 
to  drink  ;  but  the  city  of  Shushan  was  perplexed. 

4  Now  when  Mordecai  knew  all  that  was  done,  Mordecai 
rent  his  clothes,  and  put  on  sackcloth  with  ashes,  and 
went  out  into  the  midst  of  the  city,  and  cried  with  a 

2  loud  and  a  bitter  cry :  and  he   came   even  before  the 


that  day :  the  thirteenth  of  Adar  (see  ver.  13). 
15.  While  the  couriers  hurried  to  make  the  proclamation  in 
the  provinces  the  decree  was  publicly  announced  in  the  fortress 
of  Susa.  Note  the  contrast :  the  king  and  his  minister  were  sitting 
to  their  wine  (or  to  a  banquet,  Paton)  as  unconcerned  over  the 
impending  massacre  of  Jews  as  Nero  was  chanting  the  '  Fall  of 
Troy '  and  admiring  the  beautiful  (st'c)  sight  of  Rome  ablaze  ;  on 
the  other  hand,  the  city  (or  at  least  the  Jewish  element  in  it)  was 
perplexed  1    See  on  viii.  15. 

IV-VII 

Through  the  Intervention  of  Esther  the  threatened 
Slaughter  of  Jews  is  averted  and  Haman  impaled  on 
the  Tree  prepared  by  his  Instructions  for  Mordecai. 

1-3.   Great  lamentation  0/  Mordecai  and  other  Jews. 

knew :  better  *  got  to  know.'     How  ?     See  on  i.  22. 

all  that  was  done :  including  the  part  played  by  Haman ; 
see  ver.  7. 

rent  his  clothes  (see  on  Ezra  ix.  3),  and  put  on  sackcloth 
with  ashes  (see  Dan.  ix.  3  ;  Jonah  iii.  6),  each  act  an  expression  of 
grief;  the  coming  together  of  all  indicates  intense  grief. 

sackcloth :  a  coarse  dark  cloth  made  from  the  hair  of  goats 
and  camels.  '  Haircloth  '  would  be  a  better  rendering.  The 
Hebrew  word  is  sack  (whence  *  sackcloth  '),  but  its  derivation  and 
meaning  are  very  uncertain. 

with  ashes  :  the  construction  is  that  called  a  zeugma,  the 
reader  having  to  supply  the  appropriate  verb.  The  Hebrew  has 
simply  *  put  on  haircloth  and  ashes,'  i.  e.  *  and  strewed  ashes  (on 
the  head).'  The  versions  supply  the  verb  understood,  but  the 
Hebrew  does  not  require  it. 

These  expressions  of  grief   are   explained  (by  Schwally)  as 
survivals  of  the  cult  of  the  dead. 

2.  even  before :  better  (as  Hebrew)  '  as  far  as  before.' 


ESTHER  4.  .^-6  331 

king's  gate :  for  none  might  enter  within  the  king's  gate 
clothed  with  sackcloth.     And  in  every  province,  whither-  3 
soever  the  king's  commandment  and  his  decree  came, 
there  was  great  mourning  among  the  Jews,  and  fasting, 
and  weeping,  and  wailing;  and  «many  lay  in  sackcloth  and 
ashes.     And    Esther's   maidens    and   her   chamberlains  4 
came  and  told  it  her ;  and  the  queen  was  exceedingly 
grieved:  and  she  sent  raiment  to  clothe  Mordecai,  and 
to  take  his  sackcloth  from  off  him  :  but  he  received  it 
not.    Then  called  Esther  for  Hathach,  one  of  the  king's  5 
chamberlains,  whom  he  had  appointed  to  attend  upon 
her,  and  charged  him  to  go  to  Mordecai,  to  know  what 
this  was,  and  why  it  was.     So  Hathach  went  forth  to  6 
*  Heb.  sackcloth  and  ashes  were  spread  under  many. 

for  none  might,  &c.  :  because  used  as  a  sign  of  mourning 
during  a  death,  the  haircloth  came  to  be  regarded  as  unclean,  as 
was  everything  connected  in  any  way  with  a  dead  body. 

the  king's  gate  :  see  on  ii.  19. 

3.  great  mourning:  the  acts  mentioned  were  probably 
religious   ones — confession,  prayer,  &c. 

fasting :  this  has  bulked  largely  in  the  religions  of  the 
ancient  world,  especially  among  the  Chinese,  Hindus,  and 
Persians  ;  to  a  less  degree  among  the  Semites,  and  still  less  did 
it  prevail  among  the  classical  nations.  In  the  O.  T.  it  is  invariably 
the  accompaniment  of  prayer,  and  in  ver.  16  (see  on)  the  fasting 
spoken  of  really  includes  prayer. 

many :  Heb.  '  the  many,'  which,  as  in  Greek  = '  the  majority,' 
*  most.' 

lay  in  sack  (  =  hair)  cloth,  &c. :  the  sense  is  May  on  a  hair- 
cloth strewn  with  ashes.' 

4-9.  Esther  ascertains  the  cause  of  MordecaCs  grief. 

4.  maidens  . .  .  chamberlains  (  =  eunuchs)  :  an  Oriental  queen 
would  be  sure  to  have  maidens  (see  on  ii.  9)  and  eunuchs  (see  on 
i.  10)  to  wait  on  her. 

she  sent  raiment,  &c.,  to  enable  Mordecai  to  enter  the 
place  that  he  might  explain  matters  :  see  on  ver.  2. 

6.  Hathach  :  LXX  Akharthaion  ;  Targ.O,  Talm.,  *  Daniel.' 

chamberlains  :  see  on  i.  10. 

what  this  was,  &c.  :  what  the  haircloth,  &c.,  meant — a  sign 
of  mourning,  and  what  was  the  cause  of  the  mourning. 


332  ESTHER  4.  7-1 1 

Mordecai  unto  the  broad  place  of  the  city,  which  was 

7  before  the  king's  gate.  And  Mordecai  told  him  of  all 
that  had  happened  unto  him,  and  the  exact  sum  of  the 
money  that  Haman  had  promised  to  pay  to  the  king's 

8  treasuries  for  the  Jews,  to  destroy  them.  Also  he  gave 
him  the  copy  of  the  writing  of  the  decree  that  was  given 
out  in  Shushan  to  destroy  them,  to  shew  it  unto  Esther, 
and  to  declare  it  unto  her ;  and  to  charge  her  that  she 
should  go  in  unto  the  king,  to  make  supplication  unto 
him,  and  to  make  request  before  him,  for  her  people. 

9  And  Hathach  came  and  told  Esther  the  words  of  Mor- 

10  decai.     Then  Esther  spake  unto  Hathach,  and  gave  him 

1 1  a  message  unto  Mordecai,  saying-.  All  the  king's  servants, 
and  the  people  of  the  king's  provinces,  do  know,  that 
whosoever,  whether  man  or  woman,  shall  come  unto  the 


6.  broad  place :  see  on  Ezra  x.  9. 
the  king's  gate :  see  on  ii.  19. 

7.  the  exact  sum,  &c. :  see  on  iii.  9  and  on  Neh.  viii.  8 
('exactly').  The  Heb.  noun  here  used  occurs  besides  only  in 
X.  2. 

8.  the  (better  *a')  copy  (see  on  iii.  14)  .  .  .  given  out  in 
Shushan  (see  iii.  15)  :  it  is  probable  that  tlie  king  had  a  good 
number  of  copies  prepared  to  be  exhibited  at  important  centres 
and  shown  to  important  personages.  But  of  course  printing, 
typing,  and  modern  methods  of  copying  were  unknown  in  those 
far-off  days.  Had  men  then  some  method  of  multiplying  other 
than  the  drudgery  of  writing  separate  copies  ? 

the  (copy):  the  Hebrew  can,  and  here  does,  mean  'a,' 
though  the  absence  of  the  article  in  Hebrew  is  no  proof  in  itself 
that  the  noun  ('copy')  is  indefinite,  for  in  Semitic,  as  in  Keltic, 
a  noun,  though  definite,  drops  its  article  before  a  genitive. 

10-12.  Esther' s  first  answer :  she  could  do  nothing. 

11.  No  one  was  allowed  to  enter  the  king's  inner  apartments 
unbidden.  Esther  therefore  could  not  present  herself  before  the 
king.  Herodotus  ^,  however,  says  that  any  subject  could  gain  access 
to  the  royal  presence  if  he  previously  announced  himself  and  was 
not  an  objectionable  personage.     Either  the  writer  is  ignorant  of 

*  iii.  118,  140. 


ESTHER  4.  12-14  333 

king  into  the  inner  court,  who  is  not  called,  there  is  one 
law  for  him,  that  he  be  put  to  death,  except  such  to  whom 
the  king  shall  hold  out  the  golden  sceptre,  that  he  may 
live :  but  I  have  not  been  called  to  come  in  unto  the 
king   these   thirty   days.     And    they  told   to   Mordecai  12 
Esther's  words.    Then  Mordecai  bade  them  return  answer  13 
unto  Esther,   Think   not   with   thyself  that   thou   shalt 
escape   in   the   king's   house,    more   than  all  the  Jews. 
For  if  thou  altogether  boldest  thy  peace  at  this  time,  14 
then  shall  relief  and  deliverance  arise  to  the  Jews  from 
another   place,   but   thou   and  thy  father's  house  shall 

court  etiquette  in  the  time  of  Xerxes  or  he  intentionally  sacrifices 
accuracy  to  the  desire  of  magnifying  Esther's  courage  in  visiting 
the  king  notwithstanding  the  danger  involved. 

inner  court:  cf.  'the  outer  court,'  vi.  4.  From  the  former 
the  king  could  be  seen  on  his  throne  (see  v.  i). 

tlie  golden  sceptre  :  see  v,  2.  As  represented  on  the  monu- 
ments, it  resembled  a  long  tapering  rod  with  a  headhke  ornament 
at  one  end  and  a  loop  at  the  other.  Xenophon  says  that  three 
hundred  sceptre-bearers  attended  the  elder  Cyrus. 

thirty  days :  had  Esther's  place  in  the  king's  affections 
been  taken  by  another?     v.  2  suggests  a  negative  answer. 

(and)  they  (told)  :  read  (with  the  versions),  '  he '  (i.  e. 
Hathach). 

13  f.  MordecaCs  remonstrance.  If  the  royal  edict  is  executed 
neither  Esther  nor  her  father's  house  (Mordecai)  will  be  able  to 
escape. 

13.  Think  not  with  thyself;  lit.  'imagine  not  in  thy  soul  " 
(  =  self). 

king's  house :  here  the  palace  complex,  as  in  ii.  9  ;  see  on 

ii.  3- 

14.  relief:  lit.  '  breadth,'  '  spaciousness.'  Among  the  Semites 
and  also  in  Persian,  Sanskrit,  &c.,  a  state  of  comfort  is  conceived 
as  one  of  *  roominess  '  ;  the  contrary  state  as  one  of  'straitness.' 
The  Hebrew  verb  rendered  '  to  deliver,'  which  is  cognate  to 
'Joshua'  and  'Jesus,'  means  literally  '  set  at  large ^.' 

from  another  place  :  i.  e.  from  God  :  see  Jer.  xxxi.  35-37. 
The  Divine  name  is,  however,  carefully  avoided.    The  two  Targs., 

^  See  Brief  Studies  in  Psalm  Criticism,  by  the  present  writer  in 
Orientalische  Studien  (NOldeke  Memorial),  vol.  ii.  64S  f. 


334  ESTHER  4.  15-17 

perish  :  and  who  knoweth  whether  thou  art  not  come  to 

15  the  kingdom  for  such  a  time  as  this  ?    Then  Esther  bade 

16  them  return  answer  unto  Mordecai,  Go,  gather  together 
all  the  Jews  that  are  present  in  Shushan,  and  fast  ye  for 
me,  and  neither  eat  nor  drink  three  days,  night  or  day ; 
I  also  and  my  maidens  will  fast  in  like  manner ;  and  so 
will  I  go  in  unto  the  king,  which  is  not  according  to  the 

17  law  :  and  if  I  perish,  I  perish.  So  Mordecai  went  his 
way,  and  did  according  to  all  that  Esther  had  com- 
manded him. 

Joseph.,  and  Lat.  insert  'God.'  Perhaps,  however  (so  Siegfried), 
the  writer  has  in  mind  deliverance  from  another  nation— Rome. 
See  I  Mace.  viii.  17,  xii.  i. 

for  such  a  time  as  this  :  i.  e.  to  deliver. 
15  f.  Esthers  second  reply :  she  "will  stake  all  for  her  people. 

16.  the  Jews  that  are  present :  see  on  i.  5.  From  the  fact 
that  the  Jews  at  Susa  could  put  to  death  three  hundred  men  (see 
ix.  15)  it  may  be  inferred  that  their  number  was  not  incon- 
siderable. 

fast  (  =  pray)  ye  for  me:  see  on  ver.  3  (fasting').  The  word 
*  prayer'  seems  studiously  avoided,  though  the  thing  is  implied, 
because  the  former — the  word — would  too  obviously  suggest 
God  :  see  on  ver.  13  (another  place). 

three  dajrs :  parts  only  of  three  days  (i.  e.  some  thirty-six 
hours)  may  be  intended  :  see  Matt.  xii.  40 ;  cf.  xxviii.  i.  If  we 
assume  this,  the  force  of  what  the  older  commentators  say — 
Esther  trusted  in  God,  not  in  her  beauty,  or  she  would  not 
endanger  the  latter  by  long  fasting — is  (as  Wild.,  &c.,  say) 
diminished. 

if  I  perish,  I  perish  =  'what  must  be  must  be  '  :  see  Gen. 
xliii.  14  for  a  parallel  expression. 

17.  Mordecai  assents  to  Esther'' s  request. 

went  (his  way)  :  the  Hebrew  verb  (cognate  with  *Ibri 
=  Hebrew,  one  that  has  crossed  (the  Jordan  or  the  Euphrates)), 
means  primarily  'to  cross,'  'pass  over';  then  'to  transgress,' 
and  then,  as  Gen.  xviii.  5,  and  here  (perhaps  also  in  Neh.  ii.  14, 
see  on)  it=  '  to  depart'  (i.  e.  to  pass  over  the  distance  before  one). 
Jewish  expositors,  however  (the  Targs.,  &c.),  explain  the  verb 
as  =  *to  transgress,' understanding  that  Mordecai  transgressed  the 
law  by  fasting  during  the  Passover  (Nisan  14),  when  there  should 
be  only  rejoicing.     But  did  he  fast  during  Passover  ? 

[Ap.  Esther  xiii,  8-18,  Mordecai's  prayer ;  xiv.  1-19,  Esther's 


ESTHER  5.  1-3  335 

Now  it  came  to  pass  on  the  third  day,  that  Esther  put  5 
on  her  royal  apparel,  and  stood  in  the  inner  court  of  the 
king's  house,  over  against  the  king's  house  :  and  the  king 
sat  upon  his  royal  throne  in  the  royal  house,  over  against 
the  entrance  of  the  house.    And  it  was  so,  when  the  king  2 
saw  Esther  the  queen  standing  in  the  court,  that  she 
obtained  favour  in  his  sight :  and  the  king  held  out  to 
Esther  the  golden  sceptre  that  was  in  his  hand.    So  Esther 
drew  near,  and  touched  the  top  of  the  sceptre.     Then  3 
said  the  king  unto  her.  What  wilt  thou,  queen  Esther? 

prayer.  In  these  prayers  the  Divine  names  *  Lord,'  *  God,'  '  God 
of  Abraham,'  '  King  of  the  Gods,'  &c.,  occur  with  more  frequency 
than  is  the  case  in  other  books,  suggesting,  what  other  con- 
siderations make  practically  certain — that  the  purpose  of  the 
apocryphal  additions  is  to  make  some  amends  for  the  absence  of 
the  religious  element  in  the  canonical  parts  of  the  book.] 

V 

I  f.    The  king  receives  Esther. 

1.  on  the  third  day  :  i.  e.  since  the  fasting  began  (iv.  i6  :  see 
on).     This  shows  that  the  fasting  did  not  last  three  days. 

put  on  her  royal  apparel:  this  rendering  assumes  the 
insertion  of  a  word  (  =  apparel)  found  in  the  versions  but  lost  in 
the  M.T. 

stood :  better,  '  came  to  a  stand.'  The  Hebrew  expression 
really  =  '  entered  and  stopped  ' :   see  Joshua  x.  17  ;  Judges  ix.  33. 

inner  court:  see  on  iv.  11.  In  this  court  was  situated  the 
entrance  to  the  pillared  hall  at  the  opposite  end  of  which  sat  the 
king  on  his  throne.  As  the  queen  entered  the  inner  court  the 
king  could  probably  see  her  through  the  doorway. 

king's  house :  the  king's  private  apartments  ;  see  on  ii.  3. 
Dieulafoy,  the  distinguished  French  explorer  of  Susa,  says  that 
here  the  throne-room  is  alone  meant. 

over  against  has  reference  to  Esther. 

2.  held  out  .  .  .  the  golden  sceptre  :  see  on  iv.  11. 
touched  :  Vulg.  *  kissed.' 

3-8.  The  queen,  encouraged  by  the  king,  makes  two  requests  :  that 
the  king  should  accept  invitations  to  dine  with  her  on  two  separate 
occasions. 

Since  the  king  has  offered  much  more  than  that,  why  does  not 
the  queen  at  once  ask  for  the  life  of  Haman  and  a  reversal  of  the 


336  ESTHER  5.  4-8 

and  what  is  thy  request  ?  it  shall  be  given  thee  even  to  the 

4  half  of  the  kingdom.  And  Esther  said,  If  it  seem  good  unto 
the  king,  let  the  king  and  Haman  come  this  day  unto  the 

5  banquet  that  I  have  prepared  for  him.  Then  the  king 
said,  Cause  Haman  to  make  haste,  that  it  may  be  done 
as  Esther  hath  said.     So  the  king  and  Haman  came  to 

6  the  banquet  that  Esther  had  prepared.  And  the  king 
said  unto  Esther  at  the  banquet  of  wine.  What  is  thy 
petition  ?  and  it  shall  be  granted  thee :  and  what  is 
thy  request  ?  even  to  the  half  of  the  kingdom  it  shall  be 

7  performed.   Then  answered  Esther^  and  said,  My  petition 

8  and  my  request  is ;  if  I  have  found  favour  in  the  sight  of 
the  king,  and  if  it  please  the  king  to  grant  my  petition,  and 
to  perform  my  request,  let  the  king  and  Haman  come  to 
the  banquet  that  I  shall  prepare  for  them,  and  I  will  do 

cruel  edict?  Perhaps  because  the  plan  of  the  romance  required 
delay  :  historical  probability  is  sacrificed  to  literary  necessity. 
The  book  must  be  judged  from  its  character  and  aim— a  romance 
expressing  and  helping  to  sustain  the  patriotism  of  the  people. 

3.  What  wilt  thou  ?  lit.,  *  what  is  to  thee?'  i.  e.  as  in  Joshua 
XV.  13,  *  what  desirest  thou ? '  'it  shall  be  given,'  &c.  Render, 
*  (desirest  thou  anything)  up  to  the  half  of  the  kingdom  ?  Then 
it  shall  be  given  ; '  cf.  Mark  vi.  23.  Note  the  exaggeration  born  of 
Oriental  politeness.  When  to-day  in  the  bazaars  of  Cairo  or 
Jerusalem  one  begins  to  bargain,  the  vendor  will  often  say,  '■  Oh, 
take  it  for  nothing'  :  see  Gen.  xxiii.  11. 

4.  If  it  seem  good,  &c.  :  see  on  Neh.  ii.  5. 

let  the  king-  and  Haman  come  :  the  initials  of  the  Hebrew 
words  so  translated  make  up  the  consonants  of  Yahweh  (Jehovah) 
— vowel  signs  were  unknown  until  some  centuries  after  Christ. 
Jehring,  Bullinger,  and  others  say  this  Divine  name  is  intended  to 
be  thus  brought  into  the  book,  which  otherwise  has  no  name  for 
God.     But  we  have  here  merely  an  interesting  coincidence. 

6.  hanquet  of  wine  :  referring  to  the  Persian  custom  of  hand- 
ing round  fruit,  and  especially  wine  after  the  meal  proper  ^  :  see 
vii.  2,  7  ;  Dan,  i.  5,  8. 

even  to,  &c. :  render  as  in  ver.  3,  changing  the  verb  only. 


1  H 


er.  1.  133. 


ESTHER  5.  9-II  337 

to-morrow  as  the  king  hath  said.     Then  went  Haman  9 
forth   that   day  joyful   and   glad   of    heart:    but   when 
Haman  saw  Mordecai  in  the  king's  gate,  that  he  stood 
not  up  nor  Amoved  for  him,  he  was  filled  with  wrath 
against  Mordecai.     Nevertheless  Haman  refrained  him-  10 
self,  and  went  home;  and  he  sent  and  fetched  his  friends 
and  Zeresh  his  wife.     And  Haman  recounted  unto  them  n 
the  glory  of  his  riches,  and  the  multitude  of  his  children, 

*  Or,  trembled  before  him 

8.  to-morrow  :  Esther  wants  the  king  and  Haman  to  be  her 
guests  at  another  banquet,  then  she  will  tell  the  king  her  petition 
(see  vii.  7  ff.).  In  itself  the  reticence  of  the  queen  after  the  king's 
double  assurance  (verses  4,  6)  is  inexplicable,  but  from  the  point 
of  view  of  the  tale  one  may  understand  it  all.  Of  course  some 
things  said  or  done  at  the  banquet  might  have  had  a  close  con- 
nexion with  Esther's  purpose,  though  that  is  not  stated  or 
hinted  at. 

9-13.  Haman' s  pride  and  envy. 

9.  Mordecai  in  the  king's  grate  (see  on  ii.  19)  :  he  had  now 
evidently  taken  off  his  mourning  garb  :  see  on  iii.  2. 

nor  moved,  &c. :  better,  *  nor  trembled  before  him,'  as 
R.Vm. 

10.  Haman  refrained  himself,  &c. :  surely,  however,  he  acted 
a  wise  part  in  consulting  his  wife  and  friends,  though  Paton 
thinks  he  ought  at  once  to  have  wreaked  his  vengeance  on  Mordecai. 

friends  :  in  vi.  13  called  '  wise  men.' 

Zeresh  :  the  origin  of  this  name  is  very  uncertain.  Some 
scholars  (J.  Oppert,  &c.)  derive  it  from  the  Persian  s^r='gold,' 
with  ending  sh,  so  'golden':  cf.  the  Greek  names  'Chryses,' 
'  Chryseis.'  Jensen,  desiring  a  mythological  explanation,  has 
at  different  times  sought  the  origin  of  the  name  in  Kirisha^  the 
name  of  an  Elamite  goddess,  and  in  Siris^  the  name  of  a  Babylonian 
goddess — both  suppositions  philologically  impossible. 

11.  his  riches:  see  on  iii.  9. 

the  multitude  of  his  children  :  he  had  ten  sons  (see  ix. 
7  ff.).  The  Targ.C)  says  he  had  in  all  two  hundred  and  eighteen 
sons.  Among  Jews\  Persians",  &c.,  it  was  thought  a  great 
honour  to  have  many  sons. 

children:  this  is  correct,  though  the  Hebrew  is  the 
usual  one  for  *  sons '  ;    but  we  do  not  say   'sons  of  Israel.' 

^  Gen.  XXX.  20;  Ps.  cxxvii.  4f.  ^  Her.  i.  136. 

Z  2 


338  ESTHER  5.  12—6.  i 

and  all  the  things  wherein  the  king  had  promoted  him, 
and  how  he  had  advanced  him  above  the  princes  and 

1 2  servants  of  the  king.  Haman  said  moreover,  Yea,  Esther 
the  queen  did  let  no  man  come  in  with  the  king  unto  the 
banquet  that  she  had  prepared  but  myself;  and  to- 
morrow also  am  I  invited  by  her  together  with  the  king. 

13  Yet  all  this  availeth  me  nothing,  so  long  as  I  see  Mordecai 

14  the  Jew  sitting  at  the  king's  gate.  Then  said  Zeresh  his 
wife  and  all  his  friends  unto  him.  Let  a^  gallows  be  made 
of  fifty  cubits  high,  and  in  the  morning  speak  thou  unto 
the  king  that  Mordecai  may  be  hanged  thereon  :  then  go 
thou  in  merrily  with  the  king  unto  the  banquet.  And  the 
thing  pleased  Haman;  and  he  caused  the  gallows  to 
be  made. 

6      On  that  night  ^  could  not  the  king  sleep ;  and  he  com- 
"■  Heb.  tree.  ^  Heb.  the  king's  sleep /led  from  him. 


princes  .  .  .  servants  :  see  on  i.  3, 

12.  did  let  no  man  come  :  better,  ^  brought  no  one.'  There  is 
in  the  language  an  allusion  to  the  custom  of  sending  servant-men  to 
bring  guests  :  see  v.  14  ;  Luke  xiv.  17. 

13.  availeth  me  nothing  :  lit.  '  is  not  enough  for  me  ' :  see  on 
i.  22  and  iii.  8. 

14.  The  advice  of  Haman' s  wife  and  friends. 

gallows  :  better,  *  stake  or  pole  for  impaling,'  lit. '  tree  ' ;  then 
*  wood,'  and  so  *  anything  made  of  wood':  see  Gen.  xl.  19  ;  Joshua 
viii.  29,  &c.  ;  see  on  ii.  23.  The  length — about  80  feet — is  very 
great,  whether  we  understand  gallows  or  stake  :  perhaps  the  text 
has  suffered  corruption.  According  to  vii.  9,  it  could  be  put  into 
Haman's  house.  The  two  Targs.  and  Joseph,  make  sundry  in- 
teresting additions  at  this  point  :  see  Paton,  240  if. 

hanged :  render  *  impaled ' :  see  on  ii.  23  and  on  Ezra 
vi.  II. 

VI.  1-13.  Mordecai  for  his  Services  to  the  King  honoured 

AND    promoted. 

I  f.  The  king,  learning  of  Mordecai's  loyal  conduct,  wishes  to 
reward  hint. 

1.  could  not  .  .  .  sleep:    see  R.Vra.    for    literal    rendering. 


ESTHER  6.  2-5  339 

manded  to  bring  the  book  of  records  of  the  chronicles, 
and  they  were  read  before  the  king.     And  it  was  found  2 
written,  that  Mordecai  had  told  of  Bigthana  and  Teresh, 
two  of  the  king's  chamberlains,  of  those  that  kept  the 
^door,  who  had  sought  to  lay  hands  on  the  king  Ahasuerus. 
And  the  king  said,  What  honour  and  dignity  hath  been  3 
done  to  Mordecai  for  this?  Then  said  the  king's  servants 
that  ministered  unto  him,  There  is  nothing  done  for  him. 
And  the  king  said.  Who  is  in  the  court  ?     Now  Haman  4 
was  come  into  the  outward  court  of  the  king's  house,  to 
speak  unto  the  king  to  hang  Mordecai  on  the  gallows 
that  he  had  prepared  for  him.     And  the  king's  servants  5 
said  unto  him,  Behold,  Haman  standeth  in  the  court.  And 
*  Heb.  threshold. 

Targs.,  LXX,  &c.,  give  as  cause  of  the  king's  sleeplessness  that 
God  took  his  sleep  away. 

the  book  of  records,  &c. :  see  on  ii.  23,  where  a  shorter 
name  occurs  for  the  same.  Such  records  would  hardly  supply 
the  most  entertaining  reading  for  a  sleepless  monarch  ;  but  the 
moral  of  the  tale  hangs  on  the  reading  just  now  of  these 
memorials. 

and  they  were  read  :  better,  as  in  the  Hebrew,  '  they  were 
being  read,'  i.  e.  through  the  whole  night. 

2.  For  this  verse  see  on  ii.  21. 

3.  It  is  passing  strange  that  the  king  should  have  forsaken 
a  benefactor  who  had  saved  his  life  :  see  on  ii.  22  (end  of  note). 

king's  servants :  see  on  i.  3. 
4-12*.  Haman  commanded  to  heap  honours  upon  his  great  foe 
and  rival. 

4.  Who  is  in  the  court?  Some  high  officials  would  be  always 
in  charge  of  the  court.  It  happened  that  Haman  was  now  one 
of  them. 

outward  conrt:  see  iv.  it  and  v.  i.  The  exact  plan  of  the 
palace  complex  is  a  matter  of  uncertainty,  though  the  excavations 
of  Loftus,  and  especially  of  the  French  engineer  Dieulafoy,  have 
helped  considerably  to  make  a  reconstruction  possible.  See 
Driver,   '  Daniel,'  Camb.  Bible,  p.   125. 

Haman  dares  not  enter  the  inner  court  uncommanded  :  see  iv. 
II  and  V.  I. 

for  hangr  ■  •  •  fifallows  substitute  *  impale  .  .  .  stake,' 


340  ESTHER  6.  6-9 

6  the  king  said,  Let  him  come  in.  So  Haman  came  in. 
And  the  king  said  unto  him,  What  shall  be  done  unto  the 
man  whom  the  king  delighteth  to  honour  ?  Now  Haman 
said  in  his  heart.  To  whom  would  the  king  delight  to  do 

7  honour  more  than  to  myself?  And  Haman  said  unto  the 
king,  For  the  man  whom  the  king  delighteth  to  honour, 

8  let  royal  apparel  be  brought  which  the  king  useth  to  wear, 
and  the  horse  that  the  king  rideth  upon,  a- and  on  the 

9  head  of  which  a  crown  royal  is  set :  and  let  the  apparel 
and  the  horse  be  delivered  to  the  hand  of  one  of  the 
king's  most  noble  princes,  that  they  may  array  the  man 

*  Or,  and  the  crown  royal  which  is  set  upon  his  head 

5.  come  in  :  i.  e.  to  the  royal  bedchamber. 

6-9.  Haman,  saying  '  in  his  heart '  ( =  thinking)  that  he  only 
could  be  meant,  proposed  the  very  highest  distinctions  for  'the 
man  whom  the  king  delights  to  honour,'  Compare  a  contrary 
example  in  the  Nathan-David  incident  reported  2  Sam.  xii.  i  ff. 
('Thou  art  the  man'). 

6.  The  Talm.  Meg.,  7A,  says  that  since  the  writer  of  Esther 
knew  what  was  in  Haman's  heart  he  must  have  been  inspired  ! 

7  f.  Per  the  man,  &c. :  though  the  Hebrew  can  bear  this  con- 
struction (ace.  of  reference),  we  have  here  probably  an  anaco- 
luthon,  due  to  the  king's  haste  in  speaking,  well  imitated  by  the 
author:  'The  man  .  .  .  honour,  and  let  (for  him)  royal,'  &c. 
The  division  of  verses  here  is  peculiarly  unfortunate. 

In  8  f.  Haman  enumerates  the  things  which  Persian  kings  were 
wont  to  consider  marks  of  high  honour  for  meritorious  subjects : 
see  on  ii.  23. 

8.  wMch  the  king*  useth,  &c.  :  render,  according  to  the 
Hebrew,  '  which  the  king  has  (actually)  worn.'  Plutarch^  (cited  by 
Wild.)  refers  to  an  incident  in  Persian  history  in  which  a  king  gives 
Tiribaz  the  coat  which  he  had  on,  though  he  was  not  to  wear  it. 
and  on  the  head,  &c.  :  horses  wearing  crownlike  orna- 
ments can  be  seen  on  the  Assyrian  monuments  :  see  Layard, 
Nineveh  and  its  Remains  (^),  ii.  pp.  353,  356,  &c. 

The  rendering  of  the  R.Vm.(so  Vulg.  and  Targ.^^)  (not  Targ.O)), 
which  is  contrary  to  the  Hebrew,  is  due  to  the  difficulty  of  conceiving 
of  *  crowned  horses.'  Modern  discovery  has  removed  this  difficulty. 
A  crown  is  not  among  Mordecai's  decorations  in  verses  9  and  11. 

^  Artax.  24. 


ESTHER  G.  10-13  341 

withal  whom  the  king  delighteth  to  honour,  and  cause 
him  to  ride  on  horseback  through  the  street  of  the  city, 
and  proclaim  before  him.  Thus  shall  it  be  done  to  the 
man  whom  the  king  delighteth  to  honour.     Then  the  10 
king  said  to  Haman,  Make  haste,  and  take  the  apparel  and 
the  horse,  as  thou  hast  said,  and  do  even  so  to  Mordecai 
the  Jew,  that  sitteth  at  the  king's  gate  :  let  nothing  fail  of 
all  that  thou  hast  spoken.     Then  took  Haman  the  apparel  1 1 
and  the  horse,  and  arrayed  Mordecai,  and  caused  him  to 
ride  through  the  street  of  the  city,  and  proclaimed  before 
him.  Thus  shall  it  be  done  unto  the  man  whom  the  king 
delighteth  to  honour.     And  Mordecai  came  again  to  the  12 
king's  gate.     But  Haman  hasted  to  his  house,  mourning 
and  having  his  head  covered.     And  Haman  recounted  13 
unto  Zeresh  his  wife  and  all  his  friends  every  thing  that 
had  befallen  him.     Then  said  his  wise  men  and  Zeresh 
his  wife  unto  him,  If  Mordecai,  before  whom  thou  hast 

and  proclaim,  &:c.  :  D.  Cassel  refers  to  a  story  in  the 
Arabian  Nights,  in  which  a  disgraced  Arab  chief  is  led  through 
a  city  seated  backwards  on  a  camel,  the  people  hurling  at  him 
epithets  of  reproach. 

9.  Cf.  Gen.  xli.  43.  The  writer  (as  Rosenthal  first  pointed 
out)  seems  to  have  before  his  mind  the  history  of  Joseph  :  see 
viii.  6. 

10.  Mordecai  tlie  Jew:  a  member  of  the  doomed  race,  as  was 
Esther,  though  the  slory  has  so  far  proceeded  as  if  up  to  the 
present  this  was  unknown  :  see  on  ii.  8-10. 

tliat  sitteth  at  the  king's  g-ats :  favouring  the  view  (so  the 
versions,  &c.)  that  Mordecai  held  an  official  position:  see  on 
ii.  19. 

11.  Haman  obeyed  the  king's  orders,  though  inwardly  he  must 
have  rebelled. 

12^-13.  Haman  returns  home  bitterly  disappointed. 

\2,^.  head  covered  :  a  sign  of  grief:  see  vii.  8  ;  2  Sam.  xv.  30; 
Jer.  xiv.  4,  &c. 

13.  his  friends  .  .  .  his  wise  men:  the  same  men  are 
meant :  see  v,   10,   14. 

If  Mordecai,  &c.  :    the  words  rest  on  the  prediction  that 


342  ESTHER  6.  14—7.  4 

begun  to  fall,  be  of  the  seed  of  the  Jews,  thou  shalt  not 

prevail  against  him,   but   shalt   surely  fall   before  him. 
14  While  they  were  yet  talking  with  him,  came  the  king's 

chamberlains,   and   hasted   to   bring   Haman   unto   the 

banquet  that  Esther  had  prepared. 
7      So  the  king  and  Haman  came  ^  to  banquet  with  Esther 

2  the  queen.  And  the  king  said  again  unto  Esther  on  the 
second  day  at  the  banquet  of  wine,  What  is  thy  petition, 
queen  Esther  ?  and  it  shall  be  granted  thee  :  and  what  is 
thy  request  ?  even  to  the  half  of  the  kingdom  it  shall  be 

3  performed.  Then  Esther  the  queen  answered  and  said. 
If  I  have  found  favour  in  thy  sight,  O  king,  and  if  it 
please  the  king,  let  my  life  be  given  me  at  my  petition, 

4  and  my  people  at  my  request :  for  we  are  sold,  I  and  my 
people,  to  be  destroyed,  to  be  slain,  and  to  perish.  But 
if  we  had  been  sold  for  bondmen  and  bondwomen,  I 

*  Heb.  to  drink. 

Israel  should  subdue  Amalek,  Haman  being  a  member  of  that 
race  :  see  on  iii.  i  and  see  Exod.  xvii.  16;  Num.  xxiv.  20; 
Deut.  XXV.  17-19  ;  i  Sam.  xv  ;  2  Sam,  i.  8ff. 

14-VII.  4.    Esther's   second    Banquet:    Her  great   Request 

AT      last     uttered — THAT     SHE     AND     HER     PeOPLE     MAY     BE 
SPARED. 

14.  the  king''s  cham'berlains  =  eunuchs, 
hasted  to  bring-  Haman,  &c.  :  see  on  v.  12. 
the  banquet :  see  v.  8,  12. 
vii.  1.   to  banquet :   the  verb  is  a  denominative  from  the  noun 
rendered  'feast'  (=  banquet)  :  see  on  i.  3.     The  R.Vm.  is  alto- 
gether v^rrong,  and  is  due  to  a  superficial  knowledge  of  Hebrew. 
2.  See  V.  3,  6. 

banquet  of  wine  :  see  on  v.  6. 
3f  Why  does  the  queen  hold  back  her  real  request  until  now? 
Perhaps  to  avoid  divulging  the  fact  of  her  being  a  Jewess,  but 
see  on  v.  8. 

4.  we  are   sold,  &c.  :    referring    to    Haman's    bribe    (iii.    9 : 
see  on). 

But  if,  &c. :    the  sense  of  this  very  difficult  clause  appears 
to  be — 'for  the  (  =  our)  distress  (in  such  slavery)  would  not  have 


ESTHER  7.  5-8  343 

had  held  my  peace,  « although  the  adversary  could  not 
have  compensated  for  the  king's  damage.     Then  spake  5 
the  king  Ahasuerus  and  said  unto  Esther  the  queen,  Who 
is  he,  and  where  is  he,  that  durst  presume  in  his  heart  to 
do  so  ?  And  Esther  said,  An  adversary  and  an  enemy,  even  6 
this  wicked  Haman.    Then  Haman  was  afraid  before  the 
king  and  the  queen.     And  the  king  arose  in  his  wrath  7 
from   the   banquet   of  wine   and  went  into  the   palace 
garden  :  and  Haman  stood  up  to  make  request  for  his  life 
to   Esther  the  queen ;  for  he  saw  that  there  was  evil 
determined  against  him  by  the  king.     Then  the  king  re-  8 
*  Or,  for  our  affliction  is  not  to  he  compared  with  the  king's  damage 

been  (great)  enough  (to  be  removed)  at  the  price  of  the  king's 
loss  (were  we  to  be  set  free).'  This  rendering,  including  the 
bracketed  words,  can  be  all  of  it  obtained  from  the  Hebrew  text 
without  changing  a  single  consonant  and  but  one  vowel,  though 
in  other  parts  of  the  book  (see  ver.  67)  the  word  rendered 
'  distress  '  (lit.  *  straitness  '  :  see  on  ii.  18)  means  *  adversary.' 
The  next  best  of  a  dozen  or  more  other  renderings  is  that 
suggested  by  Oettli,  which  makes  a  slight  change  in  the  Hebrew  : 
*  for  the  deliverance  (from  this  bondage)  would  not  be  (great) 
enough  (to  be  obtained)  at  the  price  of  the  king's  loss.* 
5-10.  Fall  and  punishment  of  Haman. 

5.  The  king  and  queen  being  now  alone,  the  latter  mentions 
by  name  the  man  to  whom  the  project  for  massacring  the  Jews 
was  due. 

that  durst  presume  in  his  heart:  Heb.,  'whose  heart  has 
filled  him  to  do  so ' :  see  Acts  v.  3.  In  the  psychology  of  the 
Hebrews  the  heart  is  the  seat  of  the  understanding,  and  so  stands, 
as  here,  for  the  intellect  itself. 

6.  An  adversary  ...  an  enemy :  the  first  word  has  reference 
to  conduct — '  one  who  acts  against '  ;  the  second  word  to  feeling 
— '  one  who  has  ill-will  towards  ' :  so  the  Hebrew  words  may  be 
differentiated. 

7.  arose  :  Heb.,  '  was  rising.' 
banquet  of  wine :  see  on  v.  6. 

and  went :  the  words  are  implied  (pregnantly)  in  the 
preposition,    and   need  not  be   italicized. 

palace  gfarden :  sec  on  i.  5. 

determined:  Heb.,  '  completed'  :  see  i  Sam.  xx.  7  ;  2  Sam. 
XXV.  17  ;  Ezek.  v.  13  (for  same  verb). 


344  ESTHER  7.  q,  to 

turned  out  of  the  palace  garden  into  the  place  of  the 
banquet  of  wine;  and  Haman  was  fallen  upon  the 
couch  whereon  Esther  was.  Then  said  the  king,  Will  he 
even  force  the  queen  before  me  in  the  house  ?  As  the 
word  went  out  of  the  king's  mouth,  they  covered  Haman's 
face.  Then  said  Harbonah,  one  of  the  chamberlains 
that  were  before  the  king.  Behold  also,  the  ^  gallows  fifty 
cubits  high,  which  Haman  hath  made  for  Mordecai,  who 
spake  good  for  the  king,  standeth  in  the  house  of  Haman. 
And  the  king  said,  Hang  him  thereon.  So  they  hanged 
Haman  on  the  gallows  that  he  had  prepared  for  Mordecai. 
Then  was  the  king's  wrath  pacified. 

*  Heb.  tree. 


8.  Haman  was  fallen,  &c. :  the  words  mean  simply  that 
Haman  was  lying  suppliantwise  at  the  queen's  feet  in  the  manner 
of  the  country  and  time  (see  the  monuments),  and  the  king  must 
have  known  this.  Perhaps,  however,  he  was  glad  to  have  any 
pretence  for  the  punishment  he  intended  to  inflict  upon  Haman. 

couch :  see  on  i.  6. 

they  ( =  the  eunuchs)  covered  Haman's  face,  just  as  the 
Macedonians,  Romans,  and  apparently  (as  here)  the  Persians,  did 
in  the  case  of  prisoners  condemned  to  death  :  see  the  references 
in  Rawlinson  (Comm.)  ;  cf.  vi.  12  (see  on). 

The  king's  word  or  question  (will  he,  &c.)  was  equivalent  to 
a  sentence   of  death  to  those  who  knew  him.    Condamin,  &c., 

spending  on  the  LXX,  slightly  alter  the 
face  grew  red,'  which  is  much  simpler., 

9.  Harbonah  :  in  i.  10  the  final  consonant  is  different, 
chamberlains :  see  on  i.  10. 

g'allows :  see  on  ii.  23. 

for  Mordecai:  LXX  'for  impaling  (hanging?)  Mordecai.' 

who  spake  good,  &c. :  see  ii.  21  f.,  vi.  2  f. ;  cf.  i  Sam.  xxv. 
30  ;  Jer.  xxxii.  42. 

in  the  house  of  Haman  :  how  could  an  eighty-foot  long 
pole  be  got  into  any  one's  house?     See  on  v.  14. 

Hang- :  better,  '  impale  '  :  see  on  ii.  23. 

10.  Ps.  vii.  15  f.  was  fulfilled  in  Haman's  end. 
hanged  :  render,  '  impaled.' 
pacified  :  see  on  ii.  i. 


J 


ESTHER  8.  1-4  345 

On  that  day  did  the  king  Ahasuerus  give  the  house  of  8 
Haman  the  Jews'  enemy  unto  Esther  the  queen.     And 
Mordecai  came  before  the  king ;  for  Esther  had  told  what 
he  was  unto  her.     And  the  king  took  off  his  ring,  which  2 
he  had  taken  from  Haman,  and  gave  it  unto  Mordecai. 
And  Esther  set  Mordecai  over  the  house  of  Haman.    And  ^ 
Esther  spake  yet  again  before  the  king,  and  fell  down 
at  his  feet,  and  besought  him  with  tears  to  put  away  the 
mischief  of  Haman  the  Agagite,  and  his  device  that  he 
had  devised  against  the  Jews.     Then  the  king  held  out  4 
to  Esther   the  golden   sceptre.     So   Esther  arose,   and 

VIII. 

I  f,  Mordecai  succeeds  to  Hainan's  honours,  wealth,  and  position. 

1.  The  king  transfers  Haraan's  property  to  the  queen.  In  Persia 
the  property  of  criminals  doomed  to  death  was  confiscated  by  the 
state  (see  Her.  iii.  129  ;  Jos.  Antiq.  xi.  i,  3  and  4,  6). 

the  house  of  Hajnan  :  i.  e.  his  property  (see  Gen.  xxxix.  4, 
xliv.  I ;  I  Kings  xiii.  8 ;  Job  viii.  15). 

for  Esther  had  told,  &c. :  prior  to  this  the  king  does  not 
seem  to  have  known  that  Esther  and  Mordecai  were  cousins  (see 
ii.  7,  II.  22,  iv.  4-16). 

For  his  personal  service  in  rescuing  the  king  Mordecai  had  been 
(as  Wild,  remarks)  rewarded  (see  vi.  6  flF.).  The  fresh  honours  and 
emoluments  came  to  him  through  his  connexion  with  the  queen, 
though,  of  course,  his  previous  conduct  had  predisposed  the  king 
towards  him. 

2.  his  ring- :  see  on  iii.  10.  Through  being  invested  with  the 
signet  ring  Mordecai  became  Grand  Vizier  in  succession  to 
Haman. 

Esther  set,  &c.  :  Mordecai  became  steward  of  Haman's 
estate,  which  must  have  been  considerable  (see  iii.  9,  11,  v.  11, 
ix,  10). 

3-17.  Neutralizing  of  the  anti-Jewish  decree. 

3-6.  Esther's  petition  for  the  revocation  of  the  decree.  Since 
'Mordecai  the  Jew  '  was  now  prime  minister,  and  the  date  fixed 
for  the  massacre  was  nearly  a  year  off,  there  seems  no  urgent 
reason  why  Esther  should  again  risk  her  life  (see  ver.  4)  to  plead 
for  the  withdrawal  of  the  decree.  Perhaps  the  aim  is  to  exalt  the 
patriotism  of  Esther. 

3.  fell  down  at  his  feet :  see  on  vii.  8  and  cf.  v.  2. 

th«  ki&ir  ^elA  out . . .  the  flroldeu  sceptre :  Esther  must  once 


346  ESTHER  8.  5-8 

5  stood  before  the  king.  And  she  said,  If  it  please  the 
king,  and  if  I  have  found  favour  in  his  sight,  and 
the  thing  seem  right  before  the  king,  and  I  be  pleasing 
in  his  eyes,  let  it  be  written  to  reverse  the  letters  devised 
by  Haman  the  son  of  Hammedatha  the  Agagite,  which 
he  wrote  to  destroy  the  Jews  which  are  in  all  the  king's 

6  provinces  :  for  how  can  I  endure  to  see  the  evil  that 
shall  come  unto  my  people  ?  or  how  can  I  endure  to  see 

7  the  destruction  of  my  kindred  ?  Then  the  king  Ahasue- 
rus  said  unto  Esther  the  queen  and  to  Mordecai  the  Jew, 
Behold,  I  have  given  Esther  the  house  of  Haman,  and 
him  they  have  hanged  upon  the  gallows,  because  he  laid 

8  his  hand  upon  the  Jews.    Write  ye  also  ^  to  the  Jews,  as 

*  Or,  concerning 

more  have  presented  herself  before  the  king  unbidden  (see  on  iv. 
11).  But  the  queen  on  the  present  occasion  has  begun  to  speak 
before  the  sceptre  is  held  out  to  her. 

5.  If  it  please,  &c.  :  see  on  Neh.  ii.  7.  The  heaping  up  of 
adulatory  epithets  accords  well  with  the  ways  of  the  East  even 
now. 

right :  Heb.  kdsher  (cf.  kosher).  In  post-biblical  Hebrew 
the  word  stands  for  what  is  in  accordance  with  religious  laws — 
food,  drink,  &c. 

reverse :  better,  '  revoke '  :  lit.  '  cause  to  return.* 

letters:  see  iii.  12-14,  and  for  the  word  on  i.  22. 

devised  by  Hainan,  and  therefore  revocable.  But  the  king 
cannot  accept  the  argument.  It  was  the  king's  decree  and  could 
not  be  altered. 

6.  Cf.  Gen.  xliv.  34,  and  see  on  vi.  9. 
kindred:  see  ii.  10,  20. 

7  f.  The  king  consents,  in  his  own  way,  to  meet  Esther's 
wishes.  He  cannot  call  back  the  edict  which  has  gone  forth,  for 
no  Persian  law  is  alterable  (i.  19),  but  he  can  and  will  send  forth 
another  decree  which  will  make  the  other  of  no  effect  (ver.  11). 

7.  and  to  Mordecai  the  Jew :  Esther  and  the  kimg  seem  up  to 
this  time. to  be  alone,  and  this  clause,  omitted  by  most  of  the  ver- 
sions, is  rejected  by  many  modern  editors.  But  see  ver.  8,  'Write 
ye,^  &c. 

8.  Write  ye,  &c.  :  Mordecai,  having  now  the  king's  seal,  could 
himself,  as  Haman  had  done  (iii.  11  f.),  issue  and  send  forth  a  new 


ESTHER  8.  9,  lo  347 

it  liketh  you,  in  the  king's  name,  and  seal  it  with  the  king's 
ring  :  for  the  writing  which  is  written  in  the  king's  name, 
and  sealed  with  the  king's  ring,  may  no  man  reverse. 
Then  were  the  king's  scribes  called  at  that  time,  in  the  9 
third  month,  which  is  the  month  Sivan,  on  the  three  and 
twentieth  day  thereof;  and  it  was  written  according  to  all 
that  Mordecai  commanded  unto  the  Jews,  and  to  the 
satraps,  and  the  governors  and  princes  of  the  provinces 
which  are  from  India  unto  Ethiopia,  an  hundred  twenty 
and  seven  provinces,  unto  every  province  according  to 
the  writing  thereof,  and  unto  every  people  after  their 
language,  and  to  the  Jews  according  to  their  writing, 
and  according  to  their  language.  And  he  wrote  in  the  10 
name  of  king  Ahasuerus,  and  sealed  it  with  the  king's 
ring,  and  sent  letters  by  posts  on  horseback,  riding  on 


edict.      Here  Esther  is  associated  with  Mordecai.      It  looks  as  if 
some  words  between  verses  7  f.  had  fallen  out. 
seal,  &c.  :  see  on  iii.  10. 
reverse  :  see  on  ver.  5. 
9-14.   The  measures  taken  by  Mordecai.     See  notes  on  iii.  12-15, 
where  in  describing  the  steps  taken  by  Haman  in  issuing  the  first 
decree,  the  language  and  matter  are  much  the  same. 

9.  This  verse  is  the  longest  in  the  hagiographa. 

the  third  month  .  .  .  Sivan,  &c.  :  i.  e.  two  months  and  ten 
days  later  than  the  issue  of  Haman's  decree  (iii.  12  f.).  What 
happened  in  the  interval  ?     See  iv.  i  to  viii.  2. 

Sivan  :  one  of  the  Babylonian  month  names  (see  on  Ezra  ix. 
17),  corresponding  roughly  to  our  May-June. 

satraps  .  .  .  governors  .  .  .  princes:  see  on  iii.  12. 

hundred  twenty  and  seven  provinces  :  see  on  i.  i. 

10.  sealed  :    see  on  iii.  10. 

letters :  better,  '  dispatches  '  (see  on  i.  22). 

posts  :  see  on  iii.  13. 

posts  on  horseback  :  better,  'mounted  couriers.' 

ridingr,  &c. :  render,  'riding  on  swift  steeds  bred  of  royal 
studs.'  For  this  translation  the  only  textual  change  necessary  is 
the  removal  to  the  last  placeof  the  verse  of  the  one  word  rendered 
above  '  royal '  (R.V.  'used  in  the  king's  service'"^  which  comes  from 
a  Persian  noun  kshatra  ( = '  kingdom '). 


348  ESTHER  8.  11-13 

a  swift  steeds  that  were  used  in  the  king's  service,  bred  of 

1 1  the  stud  :  wherein  the  king  granted  the  Jews  which  were 
in  every  city  to  gather  themselves  together,  and  to  stand 
for  their  hfe,  to  destroy,  to  slay,  and  to  cause  to  perish, 
all  the  power  of  the  people  and  province  that  would 
assault  them,  tJieir  little  ones  and  women,  and  to  take  the 

1 2  spoil  of  them  for  a  prey,  upon  one  day  in  all  the  provinces 
of  king  Ahasuerus,  Jiamely^  upon  the  thirteenth  ^qy  of  the 

13  twelfth  month,  which  is  the  month  Adar.  A  copy  of 
the  writing,  ^that  the  decree  should  be  given  out  in  every 
province,  was  published  unto  all  the  peoples,  and  that 

*  Or,  swift  steeds,  nmleSy  and  young  dromedaries 
^  Or,  io  be  given  out  for  a  decree 

used  in  the  king-'s  service :  in  Heb.  one  word  =  *  royal,' 
or  literally  '  belonging  to  the  kingdom '  (see  above  and  ver.  14). 

stud:  judging  from  the  Persian  and  Arabic  the  word  in  the 
M.T.  =  lit.  *  mares.'  Then  it  probably  came,  as  here,  to  have  a  col- 
lective sense,  as  in  the  E.VV.  In  post-biblical  Hebrew  the  word 
=  <  mule,'  but  *  bred  '  of  (  =  'descended  from  ')  '  mules  '  gives  no 
good  sense. 

11.  Contents  of  the  new  decree.  On  the  day  fixed  for  the 
slaughter  of  the  Jews,  who  were  supposed  in  the  first  decree  to 
calmly  submit  to  their  fate,  the  Jews  were  authorized  to  defend 
themselves,  and  in  addition  (see  ver.  13)  to  take  vengeance  upon 
their  foes. 

their  life  =  themselves  (Semitic  idiom). 
to  destroy,  &c.  :  see  on  iii.  13. 

12.  See  on  iii.  13. 

[Apoc.  Esther  xvi.  1-24.  The  letter  of  Artaxerxes.  In  this  the 
king  revokes  the  former  decree  (see  on  verses  7  f.  and  cf.  i.  19), 
charges  Haman  with  trying  to  get  Persia  into  the  hands  of  the 
Macedonians,  while  the  Jews  are  said  to  live  by  very  just  laws 
and  not  to  be  evil  doers.  The  letter  bears  on  its  face  clear  marks 
of  its  spuriousness,  though  it  is  followed  by  Josephus,  &c.  It  is 
very  different  from  the  royal  edicts  of  Ezra-Nehemiah :  see 
p.  12  ff".] 

13  f.  See  on  iii.  14  f.  Note  how  the  tables  are  again  turned. 
Mordecai's  adversary  has  been  impaled  on  the  stake  prepared  for 
himself.  In  the  new  edict  the  Jews  are  not  only  to  resist  being 
massacred,  but  to  turn  upon  their  foes  and  massacre  them— and 
they  did  (ix.  12,  16). 


ESTHER  8.  14-17  349 

the   Jews  should  be  ready  against  that  day  to  avenge 
themselves  on  their  enemies.     So  the   posts  that  rode  14 
upon  swift  steeds  that  were  used  in  the  king's  service 
went  out^  being  hastened  and  pressed  on  by  the  king's 
commandment ;  and  the  decree  was  given  out  in  Shushan 
the  palace.    And  Mordecai  went  forth  from  the  presence  1 5 
of  the  king  in  royal  apparel  of  blue  and  white,  and  with 
a  great  crown  of  gold,  and  with  a  robe  of  fine  linen  and 
purple :  and  the  city  of  Shushan  shouted  and  was  glad. 
The  Jews  had  light  and  gladness,  and  joy  and  honour.  16 
And  in  every  province,  and  in  every  city,  whithersoever  17 
the  king's  commandment  and  his  decree  came,  the  Jews 
had   gladness  and  joy,  a  feast  and  a  good  day.     And 


14.  posts :  see  on  iii.  13. 

that  rode  upon :  render,  '  that  rode  upon  swift  royal 
steeds.' 

beingr  hastened,  &c.  :  what  need  was  there  ?  See  on 
verses  3-6. 

Shushan  the  palace  :  see  on  i.  2  and  on  Neh.  i.  2. 

15-17.  Jewish  feasting  and  rejoicing. 

15.  royal  apparel :  see  vi.  8,  where  the  same  Hebrew  words 
are  used  though  a  different  garment  is  intended.  The  grand  vizier 
was  allowed  to  dress  much  as  the  king  did,  though,  according  to 
Rawlinson,  the  king's  own  outer  garb  was  purple,  or  purple  em- 
broidered with  gold. 

crown:  not  the  Heb.  word  in  i.  11  (see  on),  ii.  17,  vi.  8. 

the  city  . . .  shouted,  &c.  :  contrast  with  what  is  said  in  iii.  15 
(see  on)  '  the  city  was  perplexed.'  Would  the  whole  city  be  so 
much  moved  by  what  affected  the  Jews?  Have  we  not  here  and 
in  iii.  15  an  exaggeration  for  the  sake  of  magnifying  Jewish  in- 
fluence in  Persia? 

16.  light:  a  symbol  of  prosperity  (see  Job  xxii.  22,  xxx.  24  ; 
Ps.  xxvii.  I,  xxxvi.  9.  &c.). 

g-ladness  :  contrast  with  the  sadness  of  iv.  3. 

17.  province  :  see  on  i.  i. 

a  good  day:  i.e.  a  festal  day,  as  in  ix.  19,  22.  In 
post-biblical  Hebrew  the  word  is  constantly  used  in  this  sense. 
One  of  the  treatises  of  the  Tosephta  is  called  by  this  name 
^Yont  Tob). 


350  ESTHER  9.  r,  2 

many  from  among  the  peoples  of  the  land  became  Jews ; 
for  the  fear  of  the  Jews  was  fallen  upon  them. 

Now  in  the  twelfth  month,  which  is  the  month  Adar, 
on  the  thirteenth  day  of  the  same,  when  the  king's 
commandment  and  his  decree  drew  near  to  be  put  in 
execution,  in  the  day  that  the  enemies  of  the  Jews  hoped 
to  have  rule  over  them ;  whereas  it  was  turned  to  the 
contrary,  that  the  Jews  had  rule  over  them  that  hated 
them ;  the  Jews  gathered  themselves  together  in  their 
cities  throughout  all  the  provinces  of  the  king  Ahasuerus, 
to  lay  hand  on  such  as  sought  their  hurt:  and  no  man 
could  withstand  them  ;  for  the  fear  of  them  was  fallen 


many  .  .  .  became  Jews :  no  other  rendering  of  the  words 
is  possible,  though  others  have  been  proposed.  Once  more  the 
tables  are  turned  (see  ver.  13).  Less  than  three  months  back  it  was 
dangerous  to  be  known  as  a  Jew  (see  ii.  10,  &c.).  Now  it  is  dan- 
gerous to  be  thought  anything  else — and  that  in  Persia,  not 
Judaea ! 

This  mention  of  proselytes,  the  earliest  in  the  O.T.,  proves  that 
the  book  is  not  older  than  the  Greek  period  (cf.  ix.  27). 

peoples  of  the  land :  see  on  Ezra  iii.  3. 

the  fear  of,  &c. :  objective  gen.  (see  ix.  2  f.  and  cf.  Gen. 
XXXV.  5  ;  Exod.  xv.  16  ;  Deut.  xi.  25,  &c.). 

IX. 

i-io.  The  Jews  resist  and  slaughter  thet'r  foes.  It  is  quite  evi- 
dent that  the  Jews  did  much  more  than  defend  themselves  (see  on 
ver.  13  and  on  viii.  13  f.).  They  put  to  death  (i)  500  in  the  for- 
tified quarters  (ver.  6),  (2)  300  in  the  civilian  quarter  (ver.  15),  and 
(3)  75jOOo  ii^  the  provinces  (ver.  16). 

1.  in  the  twelfth  month:  i.e.  about  nine  months  after  the 
issuing  of  the  second  decree  (viii.  9).  The  narrative  is  silent  as 
to  the  doings  of  this  interval. 

to  have  rule :  better,  '  to  have  the  mastery,'  lit.  '  to  have 
power.' 

over  them,  &c. :  punctuate  and  render  (as  Siegfried,  &c.\ 
'over  them  it  was  turned  about  (-the  tables  were  turned,  see 
on  viii.  13  f.),  so  that  the  Jews  got  the  mastery  over  their  enemies.' 

2.  See  viii.  11. 

to  lay  hand  on:  see  on  ii.  21. 


ESTHER  9.  3-9  351 

upon  all  the  peoples.    And  all  the  princes  of  the  provinces,  3 
and  the  satraps,  and  the  governors,  and  they  that  did  the 
king's  business,  helped  the  Jews ;   because  the  fear   of 
Mordecai  was  fallen   upon  them.     For   Mordecai   was  4 
great  in  the  king's  house,  and  his  fame  went  forth  through- 
out  all  the   provinces :   for  the   man    Mordecai   waxed 
greater   and   greater.     And   the    Jews   smote    all   their  5 
enemies  with  the  stroke  of  the  sword,  and  with  slaughter 
and  destruction,  and  did  what  they  would  unto  them 
that  hated  them.     And  in  Shushan  the  palace  the  Jews  6 
slew  and  destroyed  five  hundred  men.     And  Parshan-  7 
datha,  and    Dalphon,  and   Aspatha,  and  Poratha,  and  8 
Adalia,    and    Aridatha,    and    Parmashta,    and    Arisai,  9 

3.  princes  .  .  .  satraps  .  .  .  sfovernors  :  see  on  iii.  12. 
they  that  did  the  king's  business  :  see  on  iii.  9. 

helped  the  Jews :  by  so  doing  the  official  class  would  be 
helping  themselves.  See  what  follows  in  this  and  the  next  two 
verses. 

4.  his  fame :  this  word  =  '  what  is  said  '  (from  the  point  of  view 
of  the  speaker).  The  Heb.  word  =  '  what  is  heard '  (from  the  point 
of  view  of  the  hearer). 

5.  the  Jews  smote  all,  &c. :  Paton,  guided  by  an  excessive 
literalism,  renders  *  so  among  their  enemies  the  Jews  made  a 
smiting,' &c.  The  preposition  rendered  'among'  (b)  often  intro- 
duces a  direct  object,  and  it  does  so  with  this  very  verb  in  i  Sam. 
xiv.  31,  xxiii.  2,  &c.     The  E.VV.  are  therefore  correct. 

and  with  slangrhter  and  destruction:  in  Hebrew  this  is 
simply  an  adverbial  or  circumstantial  clause  adding  force  to  the 
principal  verb.  The  idiom  is  very  common  in  Hebrew,  but  seems 
odd  when  put  literally  into  English. 

6.  Shushan  the  palace  :  see  on  i.  2  and  on  Neh.  i.  2.  Note  the 
sharp  differentiation  between  the  military  (ver.  6)  and  the  civilian 
quarters  (ver,  14  f.)  of  Shushan. 

7-9.  The  name  of  Haman's  ten  sons  appear  in  various  forms  in  the 
versions,  those  in  the  LXX  differing  much  from  the  orthography 
of  the  Hebrew.  The  names  are  generally  held  to  be  of  Persian 
origin,  and  gallant  attempts  have  been  made  to  prove  this.  The 
M.T.  has  many  peculiarities  in  the  forms  and  positions  of  the  letters 
and  in  the  arrangement  of  the  names,  and  the  Massorites  and 
others  have  busied  themselves  much  in  explaining  these  things 
(see  Ber.-Rys.,  Wild.,  Paton,  &c.). 

A  a 


352  ESTHER  9.  10-14 

10  and  Aridai,  and  Vaizatha,  the  ten  sons  of  Haman  the 
son  of  Hammedatha,  the  Jews'  enemy,  slew  they ;  but 

11  on  the  spoil  they  laid  not  their  hand.  On  that  day  the 
number  of  those  that  were  slain  in  Shushan  the  palace 

13  was  brought  before  the  king.  And  the  king  said  unto 
Esther  the  queen,  The  Jews  have  slain  and  destroyed 
five  hundred  men  in  Shushan  the  palace,  and  the  ten 
sons  of  Haman  ;  what  then  have  they  done  in  the  rest 
of  the  king's  provinces  !  Now  what  is  thy  petition  ?  and 
it  shall  be  granted  thee :  or  what  is  thy  request  further  ? 

13  and  it  shall  be  done.  Then  said  Esther,  If  it  please  the 
king,  let  it  be  granted  to  the  Jews  which  are  in  Shushan 
to  do  to-morrow  also  according  unto  this  day's  decree, 
and  let  Haman's  ten  sons  be  hanged  upon  the  gallows. 

14  And  the  king  commanded  it  so  to  be  done  :  and  a  decree 
was  given  out  in  Shushan;  and  they  hanged  Haman's 


10.  but  on  the  spoil  they  laid  not  their  hand,  though  the 
terms  of  the  edict  allowed  them  to  (viii.  11).  Why  did  the}'  thus 
restrain  themselves  ?  There  are  many  guesses,  one  that  the 
Jews  wished  to  remove  all  suspicion  that  they  were  actuated  by 
mercenary  considerations  :  cf.  Gen.  xiv.  22. 

11-15.  Esthet-  by  her  earnest  petition  secures  from  the  king  an 
additional  day  in  which  the  Jews  may  take  vengeance  on  their  foes — 
this  titne  in  the  civilian  quarters. 

12.  The  Jews  have  slain  500  men,  including  Haman's  ten  sons. 
Is  the  queen  satisfied  ?     She  is  not  (see  next  verse). 

13.  Esther's  petition  :  viz.  that  the  Jews  may  have  another  day 
granted  them  to  massacre  their  enemies  in  the  civil  as  they  had  in 
the  military  quarters  (ver.  6),  and  that  Haman's  sons,  already  killed 
(verses  7-9),  should  be  impaled.  The  petition  does  not  say  much 
for  the  queen's  humanity,  or  even  for  the  humanity  of  the  writer 
who  created  her  character. 

14.  The  king  assents  and  issues  a  decree  embodying  both  the 
requests  of  the  queen. 

they  hanged:  render,  'impaled.'  In  the  present  case,  at  all 
events,  even  if  not  usually,  persons  impaled  had  been  previously 
put  to  death  (see  on  Ezra  vi.  11). 


ESTHER  9.  15-19  353 

ten  sons.     And  the  Jews  that  were  in  Shushan  gathered  15 
themselves  together  on  the  fourteenth  day  also  of  the 
month  Adar,  and  slew  three  hundred  men  in  Shushan ; 
but  on  the  spoil  they  laid  not  their  hand.    And  the  other  16 
Jews  that  were  in  the  king's  provinces  gathered  themselves 
together,  and  stood  for  their  lives,  and  had  rest  from  their 
enemies,  and  slew  of  them  that  hated  them  seventy  and 
five  thousand  ;  but  on  the  spoil  they  laid  not  their  hand. 
This  was  done  on  the  thirteenth  day  of  the  month  Adar ;  17 
and  on  the  fourteenth  day  of  the  same  they  rested,  and 
made  it  a  day  of  feasting  and  gladness.     But  the  Jews  18 
that  were  in  Shushan  assembled  together  on  the  thirteenth 
day  thereof,  and  on  the  fourteenth  thereof ;  and  on  the 
fifteenth  day  of  the  same  they  rested,  and  made  it  a  day 
of  feasting  and   gladness.     Therefore   do  the  Jews   of  19 

15.  the  foturteentli  day:  see  on  verses  16-19. 

three  hundred  men :  cf.  ver.  6.  One  would  have  ex- 
pected a  larger  number  in  the  civilian  quarter,  where  the  popu- 
lation was  greater. 

on  the  spoil,  &c,  :  see  on  ver.  10. 

16-19.  The  institution  of  Piirim  ;  oHgitt  of  the  two  different  ctays 
of  its  observance.  The  provincial  Jews  brought  their  acts  of  de- 
fence and  vengeance  to  an  end  in  one  day,  the  thirteenth,  resting 
on  the  following  day.  The  Susa  Jews  filled  two  days  with 
such  acts,  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth,  resting  on  the  fifteenth 
day.  This  difference  is  made  to  explain  the  divergent  usage  as 
regards  the  day  when  Purim  was  observed,  in  Susa  the  fifteenth 
day,  in  the  provinces  the  fourteenth.  This  is,  however,  a  case 
of  making  history  to  explain  custom  :  cf.  what  are  called  '  Aetio- 
logical  myths,'  the  ritual  coming  first,  the  myth  explaining  (?)  it 
coming  after  ^ 

Verses  i6f.  should  be  read   closely  together,  thus: — 

'  16  Now  the  other  Jews  .  . .  seventy  and  five  thousand  (though 
onthespoilthey  laid  not  their  hand)  17  on  the  thirteenth  day,'  &c. 

18.  assembled,  &c.,  for  self-defence  and  slaughter  (see  verses 

a  day  of,  &c.  :  see  ver.  17  and  viii.  17. 

19.  Render,  '  Therefore  the  Jews  of  unwalled  cities  (towns  and 

1  See  W.  R.  Smith,  Rel.  SemS'^^  17  f. 
A  a  2 


354  P:STHER  9.  20-22 

the  villages,  that  dwell  in  the  unwalled  towns,  make  the 
fourteenth  day  of  the  month  Adar  a  day  of  gladness  and 
feasting,  and  a  good  day,  and  of  sending  portions  one  to 
another. 

20  And  Mordecai   wrote  these   things,  and  sent  letters 
unto  all  the  Jews  that  were  in  all  the  provinces  of  the 

21  king  Ahasuerus,  both  nigh  and  far,  to  enjoin  them  that 
they  should  keep  the  fourteenth  day  of  the  month  Adar, 

22  and  the  fifteenth  day  of  the  same,  yearly,  as  the  days 


villages)  are  accustomed  to  keep  the  fourteenth  of  the  month  Adar 
as  a  source  of  joy,  as  a  banquet,  as  a  feast  day,  and  as  (a  time  for) 
sending  portions  to  one  another.' 

villages:  the  Heb.  word  =  ' cities,'  'towns/  or  'villages  with- 
out walls  of  defence  '  (see  Ezek.  xxxviii.  ii  ;  Zech.  ii.  8).  In  Deut. 
iii.  5  they  are  contrasted  with  '  walled  cities.' 

that  dwell  in  the  unwalled  towns  :  this  clause  adds  nothing, 
and  was,  no  doubt,  originally  a  marginal  gloss  to  the  one  Heb.  word 
translated  in  the  E.VV.  '  of  the  villages.' 

sending  portions  :  see  on  Neh.viii.  10. 

Some  codd.  of  the  LXX  add  what  is  essential  to  the  sense  and 
probably  stood  originally  in  the  M.T.  :  *  But  dwellers  in  the  cities 
keep  also  the  fifteenth  of  Adar  as  a  joyful  and  festal  day,  sending 
portions  to  their  neighbours.' 

20-32.  Two  dispatches  concerning  the  observance  of  Purim,  one 
sent  forth  in  the  name  of  Mordecai  (20-22),  the  other  in  the  names  of 
Mordecai  and  Esther  (29-32).  Since  the  time  of  J.  D.  Michaelis 
(d.  1791)  many  scholars  have  been  inclined  to  regard  the  whole 
of  verses  20-32  as  an  independent  piece  added  by  the  writer  of  the 
rest  of  the  book  to  complete  the  history.  The  evidence  is  not 
very  decisive  either  wa}',  though  on  the  whole  language  and 
matter  favour  this  conclusion  (seep.  299). 

20-22.     Mordecai' s  decree. 

20.  these  things:  i.e.  what  the  letters  (dispatches)  enjoin, 
not  the  present  book. 

letters :  see  on  i.  22. 

21.  keep:  Heb.  '  continue  to  keep  '  (part.). 

fourteenth  .  .  .  fifteenth  day:  i.  e.  both  days  are  to  be 
kept  by  all  Jews.  According  to  verses  17-19  the  countrj' 
Jews  kept  the  fourteenth,  those  of  Susa  the  fifteenth.  We  have 
here  probably  the  post  eventum  justification  of  the  later  (and 
modern)  practice  of  observing  both  days  (see  on  ix.  16-19)  ;  cf. 


ESTHER  9.  23-25  355 

wherein  the  Jews  had  rest  from  their  enemies,  and  the 
month  which  was  turned  unto  them  from  sorrow  to 
gladness,  and  from  mourning  into  a  good  day  :  that  they 
should  make  them  days  of  feasting  and  gladness,  and  of 
sending  portions  one  to  another,  and  gifts  to  the  poor. 
And  the  Jews  undertook  to  do  as  they  had  begun,  and  23 
as  Mordecai  had  written  unto  them  ;  because  Haman  the  24 
son  of  Hammedatha,  the  Agagite,  the  enemy  of  all  the 
Jews,  had  devised  against  the  Jews  to  destroy  them,  and 
had  cast  Pur,  that  is,  the  lot,  to  consume  them,  and  to 
destroy  them  ;  but  when  the  matter  came  before  the  king,  35 


the  Jewish  custom  of  keeping  two  New  Year's  days,  and  even  in 
early  times  two  Sabbaths,  to  be  sure  that  all  the  nation  kept  the 
festival  on  the  same   day. 

22.  The  words  as  the  days  .  .  .  into  a  good  day  are  paren- 
thetic. 

the  xuouth :  render,  '  as  the  month.' 
good  (i.e.  festival;  day. 
23-28.     Mordecai'' s  cornmanci  obeyed. 

23.  undertook :  the  Hebrew  verb  (cognate  with  qabbalah) 
means  to  accept  and  recognize  as  traditional,  and  therefore  obliga- 
tory. It  is  a  great  word  in  post-biblical  Judaism,  but  in  this 
sense  occurs  in  the  O.T.  only  here  and  in  ver.  27. 

The  Jews  look  upon  them  (i)  to  keep  on  doing  as  they  had 
begun  (verses  17-19)  ;  ''2)  to  carry  out  Mordecai's  behest  (verses 
31  f.)  :  but  how  could  they  do  contradictory  things?  See  on 
ver.  21. 

24  f.  An  account  of  Haman^ s  plot ,  differing  from  that  in  iii.  7-15 
(see  below). 

24.  Eaman  .  .  .  the  Agagite  :  see  on  iii.  i. 
the  enemy,  &c.  :  see  on  iii.  10. 
devised  :  see  viii.  3. 

Pnr  :  see  on  iii.  7. 

(to)  constime  them  :  Heb.  httniniam,  with  a  word-play  on 
'Haman.'  The  verb  ( ^'  to  confound  ')  does  not  occur  ini-ix.  ig, 
and  has  been  unnecessarily  rejected  by  some  editors.  It  occurs  in 
Jer.li.  34  (E.VV.  '  crushed';. 

25.  the  matter:  as  this  expression  is  implied  in  the  feminine 
T  — neuter)  forms  of  the  verb  the  italics  should  be  dispensed  with. 
Some  (Syr.,  the  Targs,,  Ryssel,  &c.',  make  the  feminine  suffix 
refer  to   Esther,  'When  she  came,'  &c.     But   she  has  not  been 


356  ESTHER  9.  26, 27 

he  commanded  by  letters  that  his  wicked  device,  which 
he  had  devised  against  the  Jews,  should  return  upon  his 
own  head ;  and  that  he  and  his  sons  should  be  hanged 

26  on  the  gallows.  Wherefore  they  called  these  days  Purim, 
after  the  name  of  Pur.  Therefore  because  of  all  the 
words  of  this  letter,  and  of  that  which  they  had  seen 
concerning  this  matter,  and  that  which  had  come  unto 

27  them,  the  Jews  ordained,  and  took  upon  them,  and 
upon  their  seed,  and  upon  all  such  as  joined  themselves 
unto  them,  so  as  it  should  not  fail,  that  they  would  keep 
these  two  days  according  to  the  writing  thereof,  and 
according  to  the   appointed    time  thereof,   every  year ; 


mentioned  since  ver.  13.  It  will  be  noted  that  in  the  present 
account,  as  above  explained,  Esther's  part  (see  v-vii)  is  entirely 
ignored,  which  is  suggestive  of  a  different  source. 

lie  commanded  by  letters  :  the  Heb.  here  is  strange  and 
unparalleled.  Besides,  we  know  elsewhere  of  no  written  decision 
of  the  king  pronouncing  sentence  upon  Haman.  Probably  the 
words  are  a  copyist's  marginal  gloss. 

lie  and  his  sons  should  be  hanged  (see  on  ii.  23)  on  the 
gallows  ( = '  stake  ') :  apparently  at  one  time,  but  according  to 
vii.  10,  ix.  14  Haman's  sons  were  impaled  after  their  father. 

26.  This  explains  for  the  first  time  in  the  book  why  lot  is  called 
Pur,  i.e.  to  connect  the  tale  incidents  of  the  book  and  its  patriot- 
ism with  the  already  existing  Persian  feast  Purim  (see  ver.  24, 
iii.  7). 

Purim:  the  Persian  (?)  word  is  pluralized  as  if  Hebrew. 

Therefore  should  be  immediately  joined  with  ver.  27,  '  the 
Jews  ordained,'  &c.     The  words  between  form  a  parenthesis. 

this  letter  :  see  on  Ezra  iv.  8,  where  the  Aramaic  form  of  the 
same  word  occurs.  The  reference  is,  of  course,  to  Mordecai's 
dispatch  (verses  21  f). 

this  matter :  the  theme  of  the  letter  (ver.  20  '  letters  '). 
27  gives  the   contents  of  Mordecai's  dispatch  (21  f.),  not  (as 
Paton)  the  substance  of  ver.  19. 

such  as  joined  themselves  :  i.  e.  proselytes  (see  on  viii.  17). 

writing  :  the  '  letters  '  of  ver.  20. 

thereof:  Heb.,  'their'  (writing);  the  possessive  pronoun 
refers  in  both  cases  to  the  two  days. 

the  appointed  time:  see  on  ver.  21. 


ESTHER  9.  28-31  357 

and  that  these  days  should   be  remembered  and   kept  28 
throughout  every  generation,  every  family,  every  province, 
and  every  city;  and  that  these  days  of  Purim  should 
not  fail  from  among  the  Jews,  nor  the  memorial  of  them 
a  perish  from  their  seed.     Then  Esther  the  queen,  the  29 
daughter  of  Abihail,  and  Mordecai  the  Jew,  wrote  with 
all  ^authority  to  confirm  this  second  letter  of  Purim. 
And  he  sent  letters  unto  all  the  Jews,  to  the  hundred  3° 
twenty  and  seven  provinces  of  the  kingdom  of  Ahasuerus, 
ivith  words  of  peace  and  truth,  to  confirm  these  days  of  31 

»  Heb.  he  ended.  *»  Heb.  strength. 

28.  family,  or  clan,  subdivision  of  a  tribe  (seep.  52). 
seed  :  descendants. 

No  nation  in  history  has  shown  such  solidarity  and  persistence 
in  upholding  the  ways  of  the  fathers  as  the  Jews. 

29-32.  Mordecai' s  {and  Esther  s)  second  dispatch  {letter)  enjoin- 
ing fasting  and  loud  lamentation  as  a  part  of  the  Feast.  The  text 
has  evidently  been  tampered  with,  for  while  Esther  and  Mordecai 
are  the  agents  elsewhere,  in  ver.  30  it  is  one  only,  '  he  '  (unless  we 
explain  impersonally).  This  and  the  fact  that  in  ver.  32  Esther 
confirms  by  special  command  what  is  prescribed  in  ver.  31  make 
it  likely  that  this  second  letter  is  sent  to  supply  what  was  lacking 
in  the  first. 

29.  Esther  . . .  daughter  of  Abihail :  see  on  ii.  15. 

wrote:  the  verb  is  fem.  and  implies  a  fem.  subject,  though, 
of  course,  it  may  be  a  case  of  the  verb  agreeing  (in  Heb.)  with  the 
nearest  subject  Paton  omits  all  reference  to  Mordecai  in  this  verse 
and  makes  this  second  dispatch  one  of  the  queen's  onlj'. 

with  all  authority:  i.e.  probably  (as  Keil,  Scholz,  &c.) 
*  with  emphasis.' 

this  second  letter  ('  dispatch  ')  :  referring  to  what  follows 
(ver.  31).     For  the  word  letter  see  on  ver.  26. 

30.  Not  in  the  LXX. 

he :  i.  e.  Mordecai,  if  the  text  is  correct  (see  on  29-32). 

letters :  see  on  i.  22. 

hundred  twenty  and  seven  provinces  :  see  on  i.  r. 

with  words,  &c.  :  render,  '  with  words  of  greeting  and  of 
faithfulness.'  Probably  these  words  were  on  the  outside  of  each 
dispatch  (letter)  sent  out.  There  is  no  need  to  italicize  with, 
as  it  is  contained  in  the  accus.  case  implied.  'Words  of  are 
hardly  in  apposition  with  letters  (as  Bertheau-Ryssel,  &c.). 


358  ESTHER  9.  32— 10.  2 

Purim  in  their  appointed  times,  according  as  Mordecai 
the  Jew  and  Esther  the  queen  had  enjoined  them,  and 
as  they  had  ordained  for  themselves  and  for  their  seed, 

32  a  in  the  matter  of  the  fastings  and  their  cry.  And  the 
commandment  of  Esther  confirmed  these  matters  of 
Purim  ;  and  it  was  written  in  the  book. 

10      And  the  king  Ahasuerus  laid  a  tribute  upon  the  land, 

2  and  upon  the  isles  of  the  sea.     And  all  the  acts  of  his 

power  and  of  his  might,  and  the  full  account  of  the 

greatness   of  Mordecai,  whereunto   the  king   advanced 

*  See  ch.  iv.  3. 

31.  to  confirm  (or  'establish')  these  days,  &c.  :  with  special 
reference  to  what  is  mentioned  in  the  end  of  the  verse.  The  pur- 
pose of  the  second  dispatch  was  to  estabhsh  fasting  and  loud 
lamentation  (see  iv.  i,  3)  as  an  essential  part  of  the  feast. 

in  the  matter  of,  &c.  :  better,  '  as  regards  the  acts  of  fasting 
and  their  (accompanying)  lamentation.'  See  for  the  idiom  *  words ' 
or  '  things  of  ( =  *  instances '  or  *  acts  of ' )  *  Brief  Studies  in  Psalm 
Criticism '  by  the  present  writer  in  Orientalische  Studien  (Noldeke), 
ii.  648. 

their  (cry) :  refers  to  the  acts  of  fasting,  the  loud  lamenta- 
tion accompanying  fasting  (see  iv.  i,  3). 

32.  The  queen  issues  a  mandate  confirming  what  Mordecai  had 
in  his  two  dispatches  enjoined. 

the  book  :  the  word  in  plural  is  translated  '  letters  '  in  ver.  20 
(see  on  i.  22).  Perhaps  Esther  issued  a  dispatch  of  her  own, 
endorsing  what  her  cousin  had  done. 

X.  1-3.  77!^  king  and  his  tribute.  Mordecai's  greatness.  This 
section  hangs  loosely  on  to  what  precedes,  and  is  almost  certainly 
an  addition  made  from  a  larger  record  (see  on  ver.  2)  for  the  pur- 
pose of  extolling  the  king  and  his  prime  minister,  who  bulk  so 
largely  in  the  book. 

1.  laid  a  tribute  :  the  purpose  is  not  stated. 

isles  of  the  sea  =  the  lands  washed  by  the  Mediterranean 
Sea.  The  extent  of  the  king's  dominions  shows  that  no  other  than 
Xerxes  can  be  meant. 

With  this  verse  and  the  first  half  of  the  next  the  account  of 
Xerxes  abruptly  ends,  though  in  the  sources  used  there  was 
probably  a  detailed  record  of  that  king's  reign  and  his  doings. 

2.  might:  the  Heb.  word  is  used  collectively  for  heroic  or 
valiant  deeds,  as  in  i  Kings  xv.  23  ;   i  Cliron.  xxix.  30,  &c. 


ESTHER  10.  3  359 

hirrij  are  they  not  written  in  the  book  of  the  chronicles 
of  the  kings  of  Media  and  Persia  ?  For  Mordecai  the  3 
Jew  was  next  unto  king  Ahasuerus,  and  great  among 
the  Jews,  and  accepted  of  the  multitude  of  his  brethren ; 
seeking  the  good  of  his  people,  and  speaking  peace  to  all 
his  seed. 


book  of  the  chronicles,  8cc.  :  the  allusion  is  to  a  history  of 
the  kings  of  Media  and  Persia,  probably  the  official  records  kept 
year  by  year  and  reign  by  reign,  referred  to  in  ii.  23  and  vi.  i. 
There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  every  Persian  subject  and  even 
others  properly  recommended  could  consult  such  records.  The 
part  dealing  with  the  reign  of  Xerxes  might  be  expected  to  give 
full  information  about  such  a  grand  vizier  as  this  book  makes  him 
out  to  be.  Though  the  book  is  not  written  for  the  history  in  it, 
yet  its  tale  must  at  least  bear  the  appearance  of  history,  hke  the 
Hellenized  romances  of  Ktesias. 

3.  accepted  of  =  '  liked  *  (so  the  Hebrew). 

speaking-  peace  :  render  (with  Sieg.,  &c,),  '  caring  for  the 
well-being  of  '  (see  Ps.  Ixxxv.  8  (9) ;  Zech.  ix.  10).  The  word 
translated  *  peace  *  never  means  that,  nor  is  the  idea  of  peace  in  its 
root,  verbal  or  nominal  :  it  =  *  completeness',  then  '  perfect  well- 
being  ' — nothing  lacking  (see  on  Ps.  cxix.  165,  Century  Bible). 

[Ap.  Esther  x.  4-13.     Epilogue   describing  how  the    Feast  of 
Purim  was  established.] 


ADDITIONAL  NOTES^ 

I.  WAS  CYRUS  THE  GREAT  A  ZOROASTRIAN? 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  notes  in  this  volume  (see  pp.  14,  40, 102) 
that  the  present  writer  answers  the  above  question  in  the 
affirmative,  as  have  nearly  all  writers  in  the  past  and  as  do  most 
modern  writers.  It  must  be  admitted,  however,  that  the  evidence 
is  scanty  and  indecisive.  The  number  of  Cyrus  inscriptions  that 
have  been  found  is  but  small,  the  most  important  being  the 
Cyrus  Cylinder  2  (see  p.  14)  and  the  Nabonidus-Cyrus  Chronicle  3, 
both  in  the  British  Museum.  In  both  Cyrus  speaks  of  himself  as 
a  worshipper  of  Marduk  and  as  recognizing  other  Babylonian 
deities,  Bel,  Nebo,  &c.,  just  as  in  Ezra  i.  2  he  ascribes  to  Yahweh 
the  victories  he  had  won,  and  as  Darius  I  at  a  later  time  recog- 
nized Apollo.  But  in  no  extant  inscription  of  Cyrus  is  there  the 
remotest  hint  of  his  connexion  with  Zoroastrianism.  This  may 
be  due  to  the  fact  that  almost  all  the  contemporary  records  of  his 
reign  have  been  lost — assuming  that  a  goodly  number  of  such 
at  one  time  existed,  in  harmony  with  the  customs  of  the  time. 
It  should  be  remembered,  however,  that  there  is  not  a  syllable  in 
the  Cyrus  inscriptions  known  to  us  intimating  that  this  great  king 
professed  any  other  religion  than  that  of  Zarathustra  :  they  are 
simply  silent  as  to  his  own  religion.  Some  have  interpreted  the 
free  way  in  which  he  allows  himself  to  be  written  down  as 
a  worshipper  of  the  gods  of  Babylon  as  well  as  of  Yahweh 
as  a  proof  of  indifferentism  or  Agnosticism  in  religion,  and  that 
his  tolerance  was  dictated  by  policy  pure  and  simple  (see  p.  40). 
But  the  trilingual  inscriptions  found  at  Behistun,  Persia*,  prove 
that  Darius  Hystaspis  was  an  almost  fanatical  upholder  of 
Mazdaism  ( =  Zoroastrianism)  ;  yet  in  the  Gadatas  inscription  ^ 
he  associates  himself  with  the  worshippers  of  Apollo  as  if  he  were 

^  The  author  regrets  that  he  has  failed  to  obtain  access  to  an  article 
by  Professor  A.  V.  Williams  Jackson  in  The  Journal  of  the  American 
Oriental  Society,  vol.  xxi,  pp.  160-84.  The  subject  treated  of 
is  '  The  Religion  of  the  Achaemenian  Kings,'  and  its  value  is  vouched 
for  by  the  name  of  the  writer :  Dr.  L.  H.  Gray  adds  an  Appendix. 

2  See  text  and  translation  in  SchvaLd&TtKeilinschriftlicheBibliotheky 
iii.  121  ff. ;  H.  C.  Rawlinson,  Journal  of  the  R.  A.  S.,  1S80,  71  ff. 

2  Schrader,  op.  cit.y  167  ff.;  Pinches,  JSBA.,  I.  vii.  139-76- 

*  See  JRAS.,  1847,  for  text  and  translation  by  H.  C  Rawlinson, 
and  especially  the  new  and  greatly  improved  edition  issued  in  1907 
by  the  British  Museum.  See,  for  a  revised  translation,  Records  of 
the  Past,  i.  109  ff.  ^  See  p.  102. 


ADDITIONAL    NOTES  361 

of  the  same  religion  as  themselves.  The  toleration  displayed  by 
the  early  Persian  kings  is  to  be  explained  rather  from  the  lofty 
ethical  principles  of  the  religion  they  professed  (see  p.  15) — 
Zarathustraism  (Zoroastrianism),  as  the  present  writer  maintains. 
Yet  as  Darius  is  so  explicit  in  his  utterances  concerning  his  religion 
it  is  admittedly  strange  that  Cyrus  should  have  kept  silence  re- 
garding the  matter.  Perhaps,  however,  if  we  possessed  Cyrus  in- 
scriptions in  as  great  an  abundance  as  we  do  inscriptions  of  Darius 
it  would  be  found  that  he  too  was  a  zealous  adherent  of  the  same 
faith,  though,  of  course,  he  might  have  been  less  outspoken  than 
Darius  on  religious  questions :  it  is  not  always  the  man  who 
speaks  most  about  religion  that  is  most  religious. 

There  is  nothing  in  the  records  which  have  come  down  to  us 
that  suggests  a  change  in  the  religion  of  Persia  between  529  when 
Cyrus  died  and  521  when  Darius  I  began  to  reign.  If  the  two 
kings  were  of  different  religions  some  indication  of  the  consequent 
changes  in  the  religious  attitude  of  the  government  must  have 
survived.  Among  those  who  say  that  Cyrus  was  a  Zarathustran 
the  following  may  be  named,  leaving  out  the  older  writers  who 
were  practically  all  of  this  opinion:  Ewald^,  Kuenen^^  Renan^, 
McCurdy*  (who,  however,  wrongly  identifies  the  old  Iranian 
religion  with  Zoroastrianism),  Noldeke',  Guthe^,  GunkeP, 
Bertholet^,   Budde^,  Wilhelm^  (Jena),  and  Staerk^  (Jena). 

Several  recent  scholars,  however,  hold  that  Darius  I  was  the 
first  Persian  king  to  profess  Zarathustraism:  thus  Sayce®, 
Pinches ''^  (who  says  Cyrus,  as  his  Anzan  forefathers,  was  a 
Polytheist),  E.  Meyer ^,  and  Sir  Henry  Howorth^.  Dr.  E. 
Lehmann  of  Copenhagen  ^  comes  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
evidence  is  insufficient  to  permit  of  a  decision  on  either  side 
of  this  controversy.  But  it  is  hard  to  think  that  the  king  of  Persia 
in  521  supported  a  different  religion  from  that  of  his  predecessors 
during  the  foregoing  eight  or  nine  years,  without  there  being  the 
slightest  indication  of  the  change  in  any  of  the  records  which 
have  reached  us.  Note,  moreover,  that  Darius  I  claims  that  on 
coming  to  the  throne  he  restored  the  religion  of  his  ancestors 
which  Gaumata  the  Magian  had  suppressed  ^^. 

^  History  of  Israel ^  v.  40.  ^  The  Religion  of  Israel,  ii.  139  f. 

^  History  of  the  People  of  Israel,  iii.  382. 

*  History,  Prophecy,  and  the  Monuments,  iii.  439  ff.,  cf.  p.  307. 

^  Communic?,ted  orally  to  the  writer.  '^  Herodotus,  p.  440. 

"^  The  Old  Testament  in  the  Light  of  the  Historical  Records 
of  Assyria  and  Babylon,  423.  ^  Geschichte,  &c.  iii.  126. 

^  Lehrbuch  der  Religionsgeschichte^^J,  edited  by  Chantepie  de  la 
Saussaye,  ii.  156. 

^°  Behistun  inscriptions,  col.  i.  14  :  Records  of  the  Past,  i.  p.  1 15  ,* 
British  Museum  edition,  p.  16S. 


362  ADDITIONAL   NOTES 


2.  WERE  THE  EARLY  PERSIAN  KINGS  TOLERANT 
TOWARDS  THE  VOTARIES  OF  OTHER  RELIGIONS 
THAN  THEIR   OWN? 

This  question  is  asked  and  answered  with  special  reference  to 
Cyrus  (Ezra  i-iii),  Darius  I  (Ezra  v  f.),  and  Artaxerxes  I  (Ezra  vii 
to  end  of  Nehemiah),  and  the  present  writer  answers  unhesi- 
tatingly in  the  affirmative  :  see  for  illustration  and  proof  what 
is  said  on  pp.  14  f.,  40,  and  102.  It  has  been  repeatedly  stated  that 
the  sympathy  shown  by  the  early  Persian  kings  towards  the  Jews 
and  their  religion  arose  from  their  consciousness  of  the  close 
affinity  between  Zarathustraism  and  Yahwism  :  but  even  if  the 
affinity  were  as  close  as  it  is  held  to  be  (Zarathustra  was  not 
strictly  a  monotheist  but  a  duotheist),  how  came  Cyrus  and 
Darius  I  to  show  equal  favour  towards  the  polytheisms  and 
ethically  inferior  religions  of  Babylon  and  Greece  ?  It  is  probable 
that  the  official  decrees  in  which  the  above  kings  are  made  to 
speak  of  themselves  as  worshippers  of  the  gods  of  Babylon  and 
Greece  as  well  as  of  Yahweh  were  worded  by  the  priests  of  the 
various  cults  concerned  ;  but  it  is  highly  improbable  that  these 
kings  would  allow  foreign  priests  to  make  them  say  what  was 
false,  especially  if  there  was  a  tendency  in  what  was  written  to 
compromise  them  with  the  priests  of  their  own  religion  and 
therefore  with  the  leaders  among  their   own  people. 

Lehmann^  seems  to  think  that  Zarathustraism  was  intolerant, 
and  he  refers  to  the  Avesta  for  support,  since  in  it  poHtical  as 
well  as  religious  opponents  are  classed  with  what  belongs  to  the 
kingdom  of  evil,  and  are  therefore  in  the  name  of  Ahuramazda  to 
be  persecuted  out  of  existence.  But  the  author  does  not  specify 
the  period  to  which  his  description  applies.  It  is  known  that  the 
Avesta  as  we  have  it,  including  the  often  ferocious  Gathas,  belongs 
to  the  time  of  the  Sassanids  (a.  d.  226-641),  when  all  the  great 
religions  seem  to  have  given  themselves  up  very  freely  to  the 
bitterest  persecution. 

It  has  been  pointed  out  as  an  illustration  of  the  intolerance  of 
the  early  Persian  kings  that  Cambyses  destroyed  the  Egyptian 
temples,  though  he  spared  the  Jewish  temple  at  Yeb^  because 
the  religion  was  akin  to  his  own.  But  when  Cambyses  invaded 
Egypt  on  the  occasion  referred  to  his  purpose  was  to  punish  the 
priests  of  Memphis  for  some  acts  of  disloyalty  against  Persia  of 
which  they  had  been  guilty.  The  sacred  bull  Apis  was  killed  by 
the  Persian  army,  the  leading   spirits  among  the  priests  being 


*  Op.  cit.,  p.  183  (3rd  ed.,  p.  201). 
^  Sachau  Papyri,  i.  14. 


ADDITIONAL   NOTES  363 

cither  imprisoned  or  put  to  death  ^  This  was  prolxibly  the 
occasion  on  which  Cambyses  did  what  the  Sachau  Papj'ri  ascribe 
to  him  ;  the  dates  agree  well.  But  this  destruction  of  the 
Egyptian  temples  was  a  political  not  a  religious  act.  as  was  the 
destruction  of  the  Magian  temple  by  Darius  1 2. 

For  a  contrary  view  of  Cambyses'  conduct  see  G.  Rawlinson, 
Ancient  Monarchies  <*>,  iii.  394. 


3.  NOTE   TO   EZRA  VIII.    21    (see  page    128). 

Clay  has  found  an  interesting  parallel  to  this  notching  in  the 
Kassite  tablets  (b.  c.  1800-1200),  on  some  of  which  are  lists  of 
names  ticked  off  by  a  stylus  applied  to  the  clay. 


4.  NOTE  TO  ESTHER  II.   12-15  (see  page  319). 

In  his  newly-issued  work  (see  p.  305  for  full  title)  Cosquin 
submits  to  a  testing  examination  the  theories  of  the  Esther  legend 
represented  by  de  Goeje,  Jensen,  and  Paul  Haupt.  The  first 
(followed  by  Kuenen,  August  Miiller,  and  Dyroff)  held  that  we  are 
to  seek  the  origin  alike  of  the  Esther  romance  and  of  the  Shahriar 
tale  of  the  Thousand  and  One  Nights  in  an  old  Persian  tale^ 
Cosquin  follows  A.  W.  O.  Schlegel  in  tracing  this  old  Persian 
tale  back  to  a  Sanskrit  source.  He  points  out,  moreover,  that  the 
Esther  legend  differs  too  much  to  have  a  common  origin  with 
either  the  Persian  or  Arabian  romance.  As  against  Jensen's 
identification  of  Vashti  (Mashti)  with  an  alleged  Elamite  goddess 
Vashti,  Cosquin  summons  the  authority  of  the  greatest  living 
Elamite  palaeographer,  R.  P.  Scheil,  for  the  statement  that  the 
Elamite  name  is  Parti,  not  Vashti  (Mashti),  Parti  being  daughter 
of  Tarisa.  The  author,  a  member  of  the  (French)  Institute,  more 
interested  apparently  in  archaeology  than  in  theology,  is  as 
much  opposed  to  the  composite  theory  of  Paul  Haupt  as  he 
is  to  the  Persian  theory  of  de  Goeje  or  the  Elamite-Babylonian 
theory  of  Jensen. 

^   Herodotus,  iii.  27  if. 
^  See  reference  in  note  10  on  p.  361. 

^  Encyclopaedia  Britannica  *^^,  vol.  xxiii,  Thousand  and  One 
Nights. 


INDEX 


Aaron,  chief  priest,  114. 

Aaronites,  17,  6r. 

Ab  (Abib),  or  fifth  month,  116. 

Abassaros,  47. 

'Abominations,'  used  of  mixed 
marriages,  135,  141. 

Abrahams,  Israel,  304. 

Accad,  39,  42. 

Access  to  the  king,  332, 

Accusative,  Hebrew  b  intro- 
ducing, 174,  351. 

Achaemenes,  39. 

Acmetha  =  Ecbatana,  loi,  103. 

Adar,  month  of,  109,  327. 

Adonai  =  Lord,  20. 

Adonikam,  57. 

Adverbial  clause,  351. 

Adversaries,  194. 

Adversary  and  enemy,  343. 

Aetiological  myths,  353. 

Agagite,  324. 

Ahasuerus,  or  Xerxes,  85,  306. 

Ahava,  River,  6,  124,  128. 

Ahura  mazda,  15,  40,  102,  12 r. 

Ai,58. 

Alexander,  Archibald,  8, 

Alexander  the  Great,  19. 

Amalekite,  see  Haman, 

Amen,  222. 

Amenophis  III,  King  of  Egypt, 
102. 

American  Journal  of  Semitic 
Languages,  14. 

Amestris,  Queen,  298. 

Ananiah  {Beit  Hannina),  262. 

Anathoth,  57. 

Andreas,  120. 

'Another  portion,'  183,  187. 

Anshan,  39. 


Anthropomorphism,  235. 

Antilegomena,  292. 

Antiochus  III,  conquest  of 
Palestine  b}',  34. 

Antiochus  IV  (Epiphanes), 
34. 

Antiphonal  singing  in  Jewish 
music,  79. 

Antonia,  169. 

Aparsathchites,  Arphasites,  88, 
91,  105. 

Apis,  the  sacred  bull,  362. 

Apocryphal  Additions  to  Es- 
ther, 294. 

Apollo,  priests  of,  15,  121. 

—  worship  of,  102. 
Apothecaries  =  mixers,  183. 
Arabian  Nights,  319. 
Arabic,  314. 

Aramaic,  as  language  of  diplo- 
matic letters,  13,  168. 

—  documents,  12,  16,  23,  8r. 

—  language,  13,  109,  314. 

—  Papyri,  6,  13,  14,  85,  102, 
132,  146. 

Archaeology,  Proceedings  of 
Society  of  13,  28,  29,  71. 

Archevites,  88, 

Archives,  kept  in  man}'  capi- 
tals, 103. 

Arise  =  set  about,  145. 

Armenia,  94. 

Armoury,  187. 

Artaxerxes,I(Longimanus),  de- 
cree of,  117. 

—  as  King  of  Babylon,  100, 
112. 

Artaxerxes  II  (Mnemon),  26, 
33,  114,  116,  165. 


366      EZRA,    NP:HEMIAH,    AND    ESTHER 


AitaxerxcsIII  (Ochus),34, 165. 

Article,  definite  for  our  in- 
definite, 332. 

Aryan,  39. 

Asaph,  168, 

Asaphites,  63, 

Ascent  of  the  Corner,  191. 

Ashamed,  Heb.  verbs  for,  138. 

Ashes,  330. 

Ashurbanipal,  83. 

Assembly,  of  the  Gods,  302. 

Asses,  69. 

Assyria,  82,  91,  94,  113,  169. 

Assyrian,  314. 

Astonied  =  dumbfoundered, 
136,  137- 

Athanasius,  292. 

Atonement,  Day  of,  10,  71, 
218,  225. 

—  to  make:  Heb/ to  cover,' 249. 
Avesta,  the,  362. 

Azgad,  57. 
Azmaveth,  58. 

Baba  Bathra,  3. 

Babylon,  4,  5,  6,  11,  22,  24, 
26,31,  42,  43,46,  51,  55,61, 
81,  82,  91,  92,  94,  loi,  113, 
160,  169,  202,  254. 

—  conquest  of,  32. 

—  route  taken  on  departure 
from,  50,  116,  169. 

Babylonian  contracts,  96,  244. 

—  months,  152,  160. 

—  tablets,  96,  103,  168. 

—  Talmud,  3. 

—  unlucky  days,  235. 
Baentsch,  128. 
Baer,  174. 

Bagohi  (Bagoas),  40,  204. 

Balawat,  The  Bronze  Gates  of, 
108. 

Bani,  house  of,  154. 

Banishment  =  excommunica- 
tion, 122. 

Ban's,  161,  169. 

Bars,  180. 


Barsillai,  65. 

Batten,  L.  W.,  21. 

Baudissin,  3,  13,  54,  61,  64, 
114,  133,  242,  246,  299. 

Beam,  used  as  instrument  for 
punishment,  107. 

Beard,  plucking  off  of  as  sign 
of  sorrow,  136. 

Bedouins,  199. 

Beer-sheba,  261. 

Behistun  Inscriptions,  iir,  323, 
360,  361. 

Beiroth,  58. 

Beit  Jibrin,  261. 

Beit  Nettef,  57. 

Bel,  40,  42. 

Benjamin  and  Judah,  45,  147. 

Benjamites,  45,  257. 

Ben-Sira,  22, 

Benzinger,  136,  199,  248. 

Berit,  244. 

Berosus,  40. 

Bertheau,  21,  50,  54,  70,  99, 
106,  152,  156,  157,  170,  182, 
195,  205,  221,  283,  286. 

Bertheau- Ryssel,  90,  155,  255, 
300,  324,351,  357. 

Bertholet,  13,  28,  40,  43,  44, 
50,  60,  66,  70,  73,  87,  90,  95, 
98,  lor,  102,  103,  104,  105, 
106,  109,  no.  III,  119,  121, 
126,  128,  130,  133,  136,  143, 
167,  170,  173,  182,  189,  190, 
194,  195,  227,  240,  242,  248, 
249,  250,  254,  255,  265,  266, 
267,  271,  276,  277,  283,  286, 
322,  361, 

Bethel,  58. 

Beth  cssentiae,  195. 

Beth-zur,  186. 

Beyond  the  river  ■■=  Transpo- 
tamia,  87. 

Bible,  Hebrew^,  3,  27. 

—  English.  3. 

—  Welsh,  3. 

—  Old  Testament,  6,  8,  25. 
Bigtha,  322. 


INDEX 


367 


Bigthan,  322. 
JBigthana,  322. 
Biyket-cl-Hamm,  174,  185. 
Bitket-es-Silwan,  185. 
Bisbel,  29. 
Bliss,  Dr.,  173,  177. 
Blush  =  to  be  distressed,  138. 
Bohlenius,  70. 
ImjUs,  180. 
Book.  313,  358. 

—  of  the  law  of  Moses,  219. 
Books,  binding  of,  157,  222. 
Booths,  226. 

Borrowing  and  lending,  198. 

Boswellia,  a  tree,  279. 

Bowing  down  as  sign  of  rever- 
ence, 324. 

Bows,  195. 

Brereton,  294. 

Briggs,  C,  30. 

Broad  place,  148. 

Broad  wall,  183. 

Brook,  or  Wady,  175. 

Budde,  10  (n.),  13,  54,  220, 
242,  361. 

Buhl.  Franz,  26,  170,  308. 

Build  —  rebuild,  72,  167,  208, 
214. 

BuUinger,  336. 

Burnt  offerings,  see  Offerings. 

Butler,  165. 

Callistus,  Nicephorus,  292. 
Cambridge  Bible,  i6i. 
Cambyses,  15,  16,  39,  83,  109. 

—  conquest  of  Egypt,  32,  362. 
Camels,  69. 

Canaanites,  135,  232. 
Canon.  Jewish,  3. 
Canticles,  291. 

Capital  punishment,  among  As- 
syrians. ro8. 

Hebrews,  108. 

Persians.  107. 

Captivity,  children  of,  55,  82. 
Carchemish,  50.  ti6.  169. 
Carthage,  Council  of,  292. 


Cassel,  D.,  341. 

Castle,  169. 

Cell,  130,  190. 

Cenhiry  Bible,  31,  32,  43»  56,  79, 

94,  106,   n6.    122,    141,  173, 

189,  192,  208,  252,  268,  323. 
Chaldeans,  99. 
—  language  of,  99. 
Chamber,  great,  279. 
Chamberlains  —  eunuchs,    310, 

315,  320. 
Chambers,  130,  190. 
Chancellor  =  counsellor,  87,  92. 
Chantepie  de  la  Saussaye,  361 

(n.). 
Chargers  =  libation  cups,  48. 
Chemosh,  121. 
Chephizah,  58. 
Cheyne,  15  (n.),  21,  23,  28,  30, 

31,  32,  40,  48,  81. 
Chief  priest,  114. 
Chigi,  28. 
Children  of,  meaning  of  phrase, 

63- 
Chisianus  Codex,  28. 
Chislev     (Kislew\     or     ninth 

month,  147,  160. 
Choaspes  (a  river),  161. 
Chronicler,   4,    14,    16,  40,   41, 

54.  81,    109,    112,    177,   254, 

258,  267. 
Chronicles,  Book  of,  323,  358. 
Chronology,  comparative  table 

of,  32. 
Cicero,  birth  of,  34. 
Circumstantial  clause,  351. 
Cities,    meaning     of    Hebrew 

word  for,  149. 
City  records,  15. 

—  walls,  repairing  of,  84. 
Clans,  lay,  124. 

—  local,  53. 

—  personal,  52. 
Clericus,  304. 
Coats  of  mail,  196. 

Codes.  Deuteronomic  Code,  10, 
i8,  22,  33,  129,  137,  331,  277. 

b 


368      EZRA,   NEHEMIAH,    AND   ESTHER 


Codes,  Ezekiel's  Code,  9. 

—  Hammurabi  Code,  9(11.),  199. 

—  Holiness  Code,  10. 

—  Priestly  Code,  9,  10,  20,  22, 
33,  III,  113,  129,  161,  218, 
279. 

Codomannus,  see  Darius  III. 
Commandments,  163. 
Commission  appointed  re  mixed 

marriages,  144,  157. 
Commission  of  Artaxerxes  I  to 

Nehemiah,  168. 
Commissions  of  Artaxerxes  I  to 

Ezra,  117,  132. 
Condamin,  344. 
Confession  of  Ezra,  137,  157. 
Confession,  to  make  =  to  praise, 

to  give  thanks,  Hebrew  word 

for,  137,  143,  148. 
Congregation,  68,  144,  220. 
Continual  —  daily,  74. 
Cook,  Stanley,  199. 
Coriti  (measures),  120. 
Corner  Gate,  181. 
Cornill,  9,  13,  133. 
Cosmetics,  315,  319. 
Cosquin,  363. 
Couches,  309. 

Counsellors,  see  Chancellors. 
—  Seven,  ii8. 
Couriers,  329. 
Cousinship    of    Mordecai    and 

Esther,  316,  317. 
Covenant,  sure,  244. 
Covering   of   head   as   si'gn   of 

grief,  341. 
Craftsmen,  Valley  of,  262. 
Crown,  311. 
Crowned  horses,  340. 
Crucifixion,  108. 
Cunaxa,  battle  of,  33. 
Cuneiform  inscriptions,  40,  96, 

360. 
Cupbearer,  165. 
Curse,  246. 
Custom  (tax),  90. 
Cuthaean,  179. 


Cyaxares,  308. 

Cymbals,  played  by  Levites,  78. 
Cyprus,  169. 

Cyrus,   a    worshipper    of   Bel, 
Marduk,  and  Nebo,  360. 

—  Aryan  by  descent,  39. 

—  called  King  of  Babylon,  99, 

IIS- 

—  called  King  of  Persia,  19,  41. 

—  clay  cylinder  of,  14,  360. 

—  edict  of,  40,  loi,  138. 

—  policy  of  toleration  of,   40, 
362. 

—  Zoroastrian  in  religion,  360. 

Damascus,  169. 

Damasias,  167. 

Daniel,  123. 

Daric,  derivation  of  the  word, 

70,  130. 
Daric  and  Darius,  70. 
Dariku,  70. 
Darius  I  (Hystaspis),  a  fanatical 

Zoroastrian,  360. 

—  called  King  of  Assyria,  loo, 
112. 

—  inserted  for  name  Cyrus,  50. 

—  tolerance  of,    13,   102,  360, 
362. 

Darius  \l  (Nothus),  33. 
Darius   III  (Codomannus),  20, 

34- 

Dates,  comparative,  32. 

Dathe,  286. 

Daughters  =  dependent   town- 
ships, 184. 

David,  92.  109. 

—  as     originator     of    Temple 
music,  &c.,  64,  79. 

—  city  of,  185. 

—  sepulchre  of,  186. 
Davies,    T.   Witton,  208,   235, 

268,  292,  323,  333,  358. 
Day,  length  of,  197. 
Days,  unlucky,  235. 
Debts,  248. 
Decree  of  Cyrus,  40,  loi,  138. 


INDEX 


369 


Decree  of  Darius  referring  to 

rebuilding  of  Temple,  loi. 
Dedication,  Feast  of,  109. 

—  of  Temple,  109. 

—  of  wall  of  Jerusalem,  268. 
Dehaites,  88. 
Deissmann,  28,  306. 
Delitzsch,  Franz,  8,  26. 

—  Friedrich,  47,   87,  90,    104, 
249. 

Deliver,  to,  333. 
Deuteronomic    legislation,    6i, 
ii5>  135-     See  under  Codes. 
Devoted,  of  cities,  property,  &c., 

147. 
Dibon  (Dtmonah),  261. 
Dillmann,  128,  226,  248,  251. 
Dinaites,  88. 
District,  Hebrew  word  for,  183, 

187. 
Divorce,  of  foreign  wives,  25, 

112. 
Documents   used  in    Ezra,    see 

Sources. 
Door  =  leaf  of  parchment  book, 

157. 

—  ^  threshold,  322. 

—  of  city  gate,  180,  206. 

—  of  Temple,  209. 
Dough,  251. 
Doughty,  C.  M.,  199. 
Dragon's  Well,  173. 
Drink  offering,  74,  106,  137. 
Driver,  13,  31,  61,  67,  94,  i33, 

248,  252,  300. 
Dualism,  15. 
Duff,  A.,  164. 
Duhm,  31,  81. 
Duncker,  i6g  (n.). 
Dung  Gate,  173,  270. 
Dyroff,  363. 

East,  Hebrew  terms  for,  271. 

—  Gate,  190. 
Ecbatana,  loi. 
Ecclesiastes,  292. 

Edfu,  Egyptian  temple  at,  102. 


Edomites  in  S.  Palestine  (J),  53, 

73- 
EgirtUy  87, 
Egypt,  15,  169. 

—  conquest  of,  32. 

—  revolt  of,  32. 
Elam,  Elamite,  39. 
Elders,  147. 
Elephantine,  temple  at,  32. 

—  appeal  of  Jews  at,  33. 
Eliashib,  17,  19,  178,  279. 
Elul,  or  sixth  month,  210,  266. 
el  Wad,  173. 

Encyclopaedia  Biblica,  171. 
Enemy  =  robbers    in    general, 

128,   131,   196.      See  Adver- 
sary. 

Ephraim  Gate,  177,  227,  273, 

Episcopos,  315. 

Erbt,  304. 

Eru,  9. 

Esar-haddon,  83. 

Esdras  I,  27,  127,  tt passim. 

Esther,  Queen,  293,  299. 

—  age  of,  297. 

—  conceals  her  nationality,  318. 

—  cousin  of  Mordecai,  316,  317. 

—  cruelty  of,  293,  352. 

—  Judaism  of,  318. 

—  origin  of  name,  302. 

—  petition  of,  335,  342,  352. 
Esther,    Book    of,    abstract    of 

contents  of,  295. 

aim  and  character  of,  296. 

date  and  authorship  of,  299. 

name  of,  291. 

place  in  Canon  of,  291. 

unity  and  integrity  of,  298. 

Ethiopia,  207. 

Eunuchs,  Rev.  V. :  '  chamber- 
lains *,  310. 

Euphrates,  87,  169. 

Euting,  173. 

Evening  oblation,  137. 

Ewald,  19,  20,  29,  48,  50,  73, 
168,  211,  242,  265,  267,  293, 
361. 


13b 


370      EZRA,    NEHEMIAH,    AND   ESTHER 


Excommunication,  122. 
Exiles  returned  under   Zerub- 
babel,  23,  44. 

list  of,  50. 

Ezra,  122. 

—  extent  of  area  occupied  by, 
147,  254,  256,  260. 

Expositor,  235  11. 
Expressed  =  ticked  off,  128. 
Ezra,  arrival  at  Jerusalem  of, 

113,  133,. 157. 

—  commission  to,  117. 

—  confession  of,  137,  157. 

—  conspectus  of  chief  events  in 
the  life  of,  157. 

—  death  of,  158. 

—  doxology  of,  122. 

—  genealogy  of,  114. 
Ezra  =^  help,  114. 

Faricaydigdn,  303. 
Fasting,  as  sign   of  mourning, 
128,  146,  331. 

—  before  a  journey,  128. 

—  includes  prayer,  334. 
Fathers'  houses,  heads  of,  45. 
Feast  (banquet),  lit.  'drinking 

meal,'  307. 

—  of  Dedication    of   Temple, 
log. 

New  Moons,  75. 

Passover,  5,  10,  11 1. 

Passover  and  Unleavened 

Bread,  iii. 

Pentecost,  10. 

Tabernacles,  5 , 7 ,  i o,  1 6, 7 1 , 

73.75,133,  156,158,218,225. 

Weeks,  10,  75. 

Feasts,  observance  of  resumed 

after  the  return,  iii. 

—  original  character  of,  73. 
Fire  offering,  104. 

Firstborn  sons,  traces  of  prac- 
tice of  sacrificing,  251. 
Firstborn  of  animals,  251. 
Firstfruits,  250. 
Fish  Gate,  180. 


Flesh  =  human  being,  200. 
For  •=^  on  behalf  of,  149. 
Forest  of  the  king,  168, 
Fountain  Gate,  174,  270. 
Fox,  192. 

Frankincense,  279. 
Frazer,  John,  302,  304. 
Freewill  offerings,  75. 
Fritsche,  29. 

Gadatas,  15,  102. 

Gadatas    inscription,    14,    102. 

117,  121,  360. 
Gall,  173. 
Gallows,  338. 
Gap  between  Ezra  and  Nehe- 

miah,  159. 
Garments,  rending  of,  as  sign 

of  grief,  136. 
Gashmu,  176. 
Gates:  Corner  Gate,  181. 

—  Dung  Gate,  173,  270. 

—  East  Gate,  190. 

—  Ephraim  Gate,  177,  227,  273. 

—  Fish  Gate,  180. 

—  Fountain  Gate,  174,  270. 

—  Golden  Gate,  190. 

■ —  Hammiphkad,  Gate  of,  191. 

—  Horse  Gate,  189. 

—  King's  Gate,  322,  341. 

—  Old  Gate,  181. 

—  Sheep  Gate,  179,  189. 

—  Valley  Gate,  172,  184,  270. 
Gates,  doors  in,  206. 

—  keepers  of,  63. 

—  structure  of,  206,  284. 
Geba,  58. 

Geissler,  10,  23,  277. 

Genealogies,  see  Lists. 

Genitive,  objective,  224,  350. 

Ger,  229. 

Gerizim,  temple  on,  179,  287, 

Gershom,  123. 

Gerund,  44. 

Gesenius,  67,  70,  250,  286. 

Ghetto,  44. 

Gibbar,  57. 


INDEX 


371 


Gibeonite';.  63, 

Gifts  =  freewill   offerings,    75, 

321. 
Gihon   (Virgin's   Spring),    185, 

189. 
Gilgames  legend,  303. 
Ginsburg,  28,  29,  174. 
Gittaim,  262. 
God,  favour  of  displajj'ed,  140. 

—  of  Heaven,  41,  107. 

Jerusalem,  119. 

our  Fathers,  122. 

Goeje,  de,  363. 

Gola,  24. 

Golden  Gate,  190. 

Goldsmiths,  182,  191. 

Good  day  =  festal  day,  349. 

Goods  =  v^realth,  possessions, 
106. 

Gordon,  A.  R.,  235. 

Gracchus,  Caius,  Roman  Tri- 
bune, 34. 

Grace  =--  favour,  138. 

Graetz,  14,  54,  84,  loi,  304. 

Graf,  6r. 

Gray,  G.  B.,  no,  224,  251 

Great  Synagogue,  8,  220. 

Greek,  306,  314. 

—  Hellenistic,  306. 
Green,  W.  H,,  8. 
Grief,  signs  of,  136. 
Grote,  327. 
Grotius,  198. 
Guard  Court,  188. 
Guilt  offering,  153. 
Gunkel,  361. 

Guthe,  40,  43,  44,  48,  58,  T04, 
130,  173,  174,  177,  190,  193- 
195.  198,  240,  265,  266,  271, 
273,  280,  287,  361. 

Guthe-Batten,  36,  28r>, 

Gwyn,  Dr.,  29. 

Hacaliah,    read    Khakkcleyah, 

160. 
Hadassah,  or  Esther,  303,  317. 
Haggai,  5,  23,  94. 


Haglographa,  3. 

—  longest  verse  in  the,  347. 
Hair,  plucking  out  of,  as  sign  of 

sorrow,  136. 
Haircloth,  see  Sackcloth. 
Hakkepharim,  206,  207. 
Halevy,  25. 

Hallelujah,  meaning  of,  79. 
Haman,  an  Amalekite,  298,  324. 

—  cruelty  of,  293. 

—  derivation  of  name,  303. 

—  impaledwith  his  sons  (?),  299. 

—  made  Grand  Vizier,  323. 

—  property  of.  confiscated,  345. 
Haman's  sons,  names  of,  vari- 
ously given,  351. 

Hammeah,  Tower  of,  179. 
Hammedatha,  324. 
Hammer,  Von,  303. 
Hammiphkad,  Gate  of,  191. 
Hammurabi  Code,  9(n.),  199. 
Hananel,  Tower  of,  180. 
Hanan,  282. 
Hanani,  212. 
Hananiah,  212. 
Hand  of  our  God,  128,  131. 
Hang  {see  Impale),  107,  323. 
Hannibal,  treaty  of  Philip  with, 

34. 
Haplography,  308. 
Harim,  59,  60,  263. 
Harsith  Gate,  173. 
Harvey,  Lord  A.  J.,  54. 
Harvey-Jellie,  173. 
Hastings'  Dictionary  ofUu  Bible, 

252. 

—  Small  Dictionary  of  the  Bible, 
201. 

Haupt,  9  (n.),97, 104,  214,  236, 

302,  304,  322,  323. 
Havernick,  296. 
Hazor,  262. 
Head  covered,  a  sis:n  of  grief, 

341- 
Heart,  208. 

—  sorrow  of,  t66. 
Heathen,  201. 


372      EZRA,   NEHEMIAH,    AND   ESTHER 


Heave  offering,  252,  275, 
Heaven,  God  of,  41,  107. 

—  of  Heavens,  2,  31. 
Heavens,  four  quarters  of,  271. 
Hebrew  Bible,  3. 

—  language.  314. 

—  Old  Testament,  8. 

—  Rabbinical,  8. 

—  of  Palestine  in  Ezra's  time, 
223,  285. 

Hebron,  261. 
Hegai,  315. 
Hengstenberg,  8,  67. 
Herodotus,  307,  332. 

—  and  Aeschylus,  32. 
Herzfeld,  29,  279. 
Hexapla,  Origen's,  3,  28. 
Hexateuch,  8,  10,  n. 

. —  publications  of,  33. 

Hezekiah,  39. 

High    priesthood,  53,  59,   114. 

See  Priests,  chief. 
Hinnom,  Valley  of,  172,  173. 
Hiphil,  Inner,  220. 
Hiram,  King  of  Tyre,  19. 
Historicity  of  Book  of  Esther 

improbable,  297. 
Hittites,  233. 
Hitzig,  314. 
Hodaviah,  63, 
Holzinger,  128. 
Hommel,  304. 
Hoonacker,  v.,  13,  21,  25,   26, 

47,  84,  116,  126,  151. 
Horeb,  293. 
Horonite,  170,  178. 
Horse  Gate,  189. 
Horses,  69. 

—  crowned,  340. 

House  =  subdivision   of  Jewish 
clan,  44,  65. 

—  =  treasure  house  of  his  God. 
46. 

—  of  the  mighty  men,  t86. 

women,  315. 

Howorth,    Sir    Henry   H.,    13, 

21,  28,  29,  71,  361, 


Humban,  303. 
Humiliation,  137, 
Humman,  303. 
Hupfeld,  251, 
Hystaspis,  see  Darius  I. 
Hyde,  Thomas,  303. 
Hyrcanus,  John,  reign  of,  34. 

Ibn  Ezra,  49. 

Iddo,  126, 

'Iggereth,  87. 

Imbert,  25,  47. 

Immer,  60. 

Impale,  Impalement,  107,  323. 

Impersonal  verb,  see  Indefinite 

subject, 
Inaros,  revolt  of,  32. 
Indefinite  subject,  78,  103,  152, 

213,  229,  267,  312,  326,  357. 
India,  307. 

Infinitive  absolute,  209, 
Inscriptions,  Persian,  39,  314, 

360. 

—  trilingual,  314. 
Interest,  199. 
Interpreter,  292. 
Isles  of  the  sea,  358. 

Israel,  24,  26,  31,  71,  109,  112. 

—  rebellion    and    punishment 
of,  138. 

—  meaning  whole  community, 
24,  26,  31,  144. 

laity,  109,  145,  153,  256. 

Ishtar,  302,  303. 

—  legend,  303. 

Jaddua  (Yaddua),    19,   20,  34, 

146,  178,  264, 
Jaffa  Gate,  173. 
Jahn,  G.,  103. 

Jamnia,  Synod  of,  3,  13,  292. 
Jampel,  82,  loi,  102,  103,  304. 
Jannaeus,  Alexander,  34. 
Jebus,  Jebusitcs,  233. 
Jehohanan,  son  of  Eliashib,  146. 

—  chamber  of,  146. 
Jehring,  336. 


INDEX 


373 


Jensen,  P.,  302,  303,  324,  363. 
Jericho,  59,  180. 
Jerome,  3,  323. 
Jerome's  Version,  294. 
Jerusalem,  arrival  of  Nehemiah 
at,  169. 

—  second  arrival  of  Nehemiah 
at,  278,  280. 

—  capture  of,  34. 

—  destruction  of,  by  Nebuchad- 
nezzar, 84,  91. 

—  efforts  to  increase  population 
of,  214. 

—  mighty  kings  of,  92, 

—  population  of  small,  214. 

—  state  of,  on  arrival  of  Ezra, 

113- 

—  the  Holy  City,  254. 

—  walls  of,  see  Walls. 
Jerusalem   and   Judah    (Judah 

and  Jerusalem),  55,  95,  118, 
140. 
Jeshua  (Joshua),  4,  22,  51.  56, 

63.  72,  75.  77,  95. 
Jesus  and  Joshua,  333. 
Jevi's,  as  bondmen,  139. 

—  confiscation  of  property  of, 
147. 

—  language  of,  285. 

—  modern,  329. 

—  music  of,  78,  79. 

—  new  religious  community  of, 
in  Jerusalem,  89. 

—  neighbours  of,  148. 

—  officials  of,  14. 

—  remnant  of,  142. 

—  return  of,  32,  159, 

—  second  return  of,  33. 

—  separateness  of,  327. 
Jewish  Encyclopaedia,  304. 
Joel,  prophecy  of,  33. 
Johns,  C.  H.  W. ,  199,  235. 
Johnstone,  235. 

Jonathan,  made  high-priest,  34. 

Jonathan,  should  be  John,  264. 

Josephus,  3,  19,  28,  40,  67,  T04, 

109,  i33t  146,  156,  T57i  ^68. 


T70,    179,  2TT,    248,  286,  300, 
307,  323- 

Josephus  and  Esdras,  28. 
Judah,    post-exilic    inhabitants 

of,  254.     See  Map,  p.  38. 
Judah,   province   of,   147,    256, 

257,  260. 

—  read  Hodaviah,  78. 
Judah  and  Benjamin,  45,  147. 
Judaism,  15,  293. 

—  reorganization  of,  6. 
Judge  (verb),  121. 
Judgements,  163. 
Judges,  or  Shophetim,  150. 
Julius  Caesar,  birth  of,  34. 
Justi,  Ferdinand,  loi. 

Kadmiel,  63. 

Kalisch,  67. 

Kamphausen,  299. 

Kassite  tablets,  363. 

Kaulen,  295. 

Kautzsch,  90,  197,  267,  295. 

Keil,  8,  20,  29,  49,  54,  76,  106, 

156,  157,  173,  254,  255,  296. 
Keilah,  186. 
Keltic,  332. 
Kent,  5, 14,  21,84,  ^o^>  i04>  ^°5» 

III,  133,  177,  195,  273,  325. 
Kenushata,  271. 
Ketubim,  3,  291. 
Khanukah,  no,  268. 
Kidron,  175. 
Kikkar,  269. 
King,  business  of,  328. 

—  forest  of,  168. 

—  gardens  of,  174. 

—  house  of,  105. 

—  gate  of,  322,  34 T. 

—  how  to  be  approached,  332. 

—  pool  of,  174. 

—  treasure  house  of,  T05. 
King  of  Persia,  of  Cjtus,  19, 41. 
Kiriath-arba,  261. 
Kiriath-arim,  58. 

Kirisha,  337. 
Kirkpatrick,  18. 


374      EZRA,   NEHEMIAH,   AND   ESTHER 


Kislew     (Chislev^,     or     ninth 

month,  147,  160,  268. 
Kittel,  73. 
Klostermann,   to,    18.    21,  48, 

84*  95i  133?  220,  226,  300. 
Kenig,  133,  299. 
Korahites,  62. 
Kosher  (Kasher),  346. 
Kosters,  21,  23,  25,  26,  40,  47, 

48,54,  84,  9T,  loi,  ri6,  133, 

136,  T40,  162,  226,  229,  242, 

247,  275,  277. 
KoyunjikjOr  Nineveh,  100,  T03. 
Ktesias,  91,  103,  165,  167,  359. 
Kuenen,  10,  18,  21,  48,  84,  89, 

95,  133,  220,  226,  300,  361. 
Kuthaean,  179.    See  Cuthaean. 

Lagarde,  302,  303,  304. 
Lamentations,  292. 
Land,  of  captivity,  192, 

—  unclean,  140. 

Lands  =  heathen  lands,  138. 

Langen,  295. 

Lap,  203. 

Law,  as  to  drinking,  310, 

—  reading  of  the,  156,  158. 

—  of  Moses,  &c.,  in  Ezra  and 
Nehemiah,  9,  72,  115. 

Book  of  the,  219. 

Laymen,  71. 
Lee,  286. 

Lehmann,  361,  362. 
Lending  and  borrowing,  198. 
Letters  =  dispatches,    86,    87, 
207,  313,  358. 

—  of  complaint  sent   to    Per- 
sian Court,  84. 

Levi,  60. 

Levita,  Elias,  220. 
Levites,  absence  of,  among  re- 
turned exiles,  126. 

—  as    musicians,   &c.,  62,    78, 
258. 

—  courses  of,  no. 

—  fewness  of,  among  returned 
exiles,  61,  126. 


Levites,  functions  of,  6r,  126. 

—  generic  and  specific  use  of 
term,  61,  78,  158. 

—  organization  of,  159. 

—  return  of  from  exile,  60, 

—  years  of  service  of,  77. 
Light  =  prosperity,  349. 

List  of  names  in  Ezra  and  Nehe- 
miah discussed,  52. 
Lists,    genealogical,    54,    214, 

254- 
Little     ones,     Hebrew    word 

sometimes     includes    wives, 

128. 
Lod,  or  Lydda,  59. 
Lod  and  Ono,  59. 
Lohr,  69,  182,  273. 
Longimanus,  see  Artaxerxes  L 
Lord  (Yahweh),  162, 
Lot,  division  by,  326. 
Lots,  see  Purim. 
Lucky  and  unlucky  days,  235. 
Luther,  293. 
Lydians,  39. 

Maccabaean  uprising,  26,  34, 
297. 

Maccabaeus,  Judas,  victory  over 
Nicanor,  302. 

Macedonian  war,  first,  34. 

Madden,  70. 

Magistrates  and  judges,  121. 

Magnesia,  14,  102. 

Malachi,  8,  31. 

Malachi  and  Isaiah,  composi- 
tion of,  33. 

Man,  Hebrew  Adam  =  human 
being,  171. 

Manna,  236. 

Manasseh,  Prayer  of,  291. 

Manasses,  son  of  Jaddua,  179. 

Mantle,  rending  of  as  sign  of 
grief,  136. 

Marathon,  battle  of,  32. 

Marble,  309. 

Marduk  (Merodak),  14.  40,  42, 
46,  98,   302. 


INDEX 


375 


Marquart,  36,  81.  tot,  T02.  T03, 
120.  162,  277,  289. 

Marrj',  Hebrew  word  means  '  to 
give  a  home  to,'  144. 

Marti,  Karl,  T9,  32,  81,  104. 

Masons  and,  in  Hebrew,  stone- 
cutters, 76. 

Massacre  of  non-Jews  by  Jews, 
350.  352. 

Massorah,  3. 

Massorites,  72. 

Mazdaism,  360. 

Mazdaist,  42,  121. 

McCurdy,  361. 

Meal    (cereal)   offering,   9,    i 
74,  106,  137,  247,  279. 

Measure  of  wheat,  120. 

Meat  (flesh  offering  >,  137. 

Mecca,  138. 

Meconah  (Mekenua),  261. 

Medes,  39. 

Media,  94. 

Medo-Persian  kingdom,  308. 

Megabysus,  revolt  of.  33, 

Megillah,  291. 

Megilloth,  291. 

Mehanem,  King  of  Israel,  92. 

Meinhold,  235,  270. 

Meissner,  87,  96,  303. 

Melito,  Bishop  of  Sardis,  292. 

Memoirs  of  Nehemiah,  7. 

Memorial,  177. 

Monti,  87. 

Merchants,  190,  19T. 

Mercy,  122,  165. 

Meremoth,  181. 

Merrill,  Selah,  172. 

Meshullam,  t8t,  190,  221. 

Mesopotamia,  87. 

Messiah,  expectation  of,  94. 

Meyer,  E.,  13.  23,47,  48,  5^.66, 
68,  70,  80,  8t,  87,  91,  94,  97, 

T02(n.\  TIT, 116,121, 132. 136. 

T69,   T69  (n.),  T82,  T85,  246, 
254,  255,  272,  275,  278,  361. 
Michaelis,  J.  D.,  68,   156,  227, 
299,  302,  304,  354. 


Michaelis,  J.  H.,  67 

Michmas,  58. 

Ministers,  127. 

Minkhah,  9,  18,  74,  to6,  T37, 
247,  279. 

Mishnah,  4,  220. 

Mitchell,  173. 

Mithredath,  subordinate  offi- 
cial, 86. 

—  treasurer  to  Cyrus,  47,  85. 
Mixed  marriages,  6,  18,  25,  26, 

3^-        .    .  . 

—  commission      in      connexion 

with,  T44,  157. 

—  Ezra's  grief  at,  T57, 

—  means  used  by  Ezra  to  end, 

133,  134. 

—  protest  of  Nehemiah  against, 
159,  285. 

—  repentance  of  people  on 
account  of,  143. 

Mizpah,  district  of,  185. 

—  town  of,  182,  186. 
Mnemon,  see  Artaxerxes  II. 
Modem  discovery,  340. 
Molek,  173. 

Mommert,  168,  169,  172. 

Months,  Jewish  and  Baby- 
lonian, 152,  160, 

Mor,  319. 

Mordecai,  age  of,  according  to 
Book  of  Esther,  297,  316. 

—  a  Jew,  341. 

—  cruelty  of,  293. 

—  etymology  of  name,  302,316. 

—  Judaism  of,  318. 

—  refusal  to  bend  before 
Haman,  324. 

—  relationship  to  Esther  (317) 
concealed,  298,  318. 

—  sitting  at  the  king's  gate, 
322,  341. 

—  succeeds  Haman,  345. 
Mordecai  and  Esther,  edict  of, 

357- 
Morgan,  de,  39. 
Mortgage  of  lands.  200. 


ZIG      EZRA,    NEHEMIAH,   AND   ESTHER 


Moses,  five  books  of,  ii. 

—  Law  of,  115,  219,  226. 
'Most  holj''  things,'  67. 
Moulton,  J.  H.,  28,  306. 
Mourning,  acts  of,  331. 

—  signs  of,  136. 
Muhlau,  186. 
Mules,  69. 
Myrrh,  319. 

Nabonidus,  39,  42. 

Nabonidus  -  Cyrus     Chronicle, 

360. 
Nabopolassar,  King  of  Babylon, 

99. 
Nabunaid,  14. 
Nahamani,  55. 
Nail,  139. 

Name,  significance  of,  164. 
Nations  =  heathen,  207. 
Nazianzen,  Gregory,  292. 
Neanias,  144. 
Nebo,  the  God,  40,  42. 

—  a  town,  58. 
Nebuchadnezzar,  5,  46,  84,  91, 

92. 

—  spelling  of  name,  55,  99,  317. 
Nehemiah,  a  Jerusalemite,  166. 

—  arrival  in  Jerusalem,  169. 

—  second  arrival  in  Jerusalem, 
278,  280. 

—  confession  and  prayer,   162. 

—  inspection  of  walls  of  Jeru- 
salem, 172. 

—  meaning  of  name,  160. 

—  memoirs  of,  7, 

—  protest  against   mixed    mar- 
riages, 159,  285, 

—  route    taken     by    to     Jeru- 
salem, 169. 

Nekoda,  65. 

Nestle,  28,  29. 

Nethinim,   in   Temple,   62,   63, 

64,  71,  121,  127,  190. 
Netophah,  57,  269. 
New  Moons,  Feast  of,  75. 

—  Year,  152. 


Nikaso,  daughter  of  Sanballatf 

179. 
Nikel,  J.,  97. 
Nisan,  month  of,  116,  131,  152, 

165. 
Nit,  15. 
Noadiah,  the  prophetess,  210. 

—  son  of  Binnui,  131. 
Nob,  262. 

Nobles  =  first  men,  308. 

—  =  freedmen,  175. 

—  =  powerful  ones,  181,  247, 
Noldeke,  14,  20,  91,  146,  302, 

328,  358,  361. 
Nominal  apposition,  135. 
North,  Hebrew  terms  for,  271, 
Now,   two    Hebrew   words   so 

rendered,  163. 
Nowack,  19. 
Number  of  those  who  returned, 

52. 

—  of  vessels  restored  by  Cjtus, 
49. 

Numbers,  significant,  51,    118, 
310- 

Oath,  203. 

Objective  genitive,  224,  350. 

Occasions    when   vessels  were 

removed  from  Temple,  46. 
Ochus,  see  Artaxerxes  III. 
Oettli,  36,    106,  140,  276,  299, 

305,  343- 
Offerings,     burnt,    72,    73,    74, 
106,  132,  137. 

—  drink,  74,  106,  137. 

—  fire,  104, 

—  freewill,  75. 

—  guilt,  153. 

—  heave,  252,  275. 

—  meal,  or  minkhah,  9,  18,  74, 
106,  137,  247,  279. 

—  meat  (flesh),  137. 

—  sin,  no,  132,  249. 

—  wood,  250. 
Officer,  315. 
Old  Gate,  181. 


INDEX 


377 


Olive  branches,  226. 

Onias,  appointment  of  as  high 
priest,  34. 

Ono,  59,  206. 

Ophel,  189. 

Open  places,  195. 

Oppert,  J.,  337. 

Organization  of  Persian  king- 
dom, see  Persian  kingdom. 

Orientalische  Studien,  333,  358. 

Origen,  3. 

Origen's  Hexapla,  28. 

Orr,304  (n.). 

Osnappar,  88. 

Outward  Court,  339. 

Overseer,  259,  315. 

Padali  =  redeemed,  164. 
Pahath-Moab,  56. 
Palace,  or  fortress,  161,  307. 
Palace,  inner  court  of,  335. 

—  outer  court  of,  339. 
Palestine,  14,  96. 

—  as  bridge  between  Egypt 
and  Babylon,  102. 

—  condition  of  on  arrival  of 
Ezra,  113. 

—  conquered  by  Antiochus  III, 

34. 

Papyri,  Aramaic,  6,  13,  14, 
32  (n.),  33  (n-)»  40  (n.),  42, 
85,  88,  96,  102,  103,  107,  132, 
146,  161,  170,  177,  204,  209. 

Paradise,  168. 

Parchment  roll,  leaves  of  mixed, 

157. 

Parti,  363. 

Partia,  94. 

Participle  passive,  used  adver- 
bially, 92. 

Pasagarda,  roi. 

Pashhur,  60. 

Passover,  5. 

Paton,  L.  B.,  172,  292,  299,  300, 
304,  322.  323,  324,  325.  326, 

327.  330,  351- 
Paulus  of  Telia,  28. 


Pavement,  309. 

Payment  of  workmen  in  mone}', 

75. 
Peace,  incorrect  translation  of 
Hebrew  term  of  greeting,  97, 

359. 
Pedaiah,  282. 

Pekhah  (Ass.) Pak/iat,  132,  169. 
Peloponnesian  War,  33. 
Pentateuch,  8. 
Pentecost,  10. 
People  =  laity,  125. 
Peoples  of  the  lands  =  heathen 

in  general,  73,  83,  136. 
Perfumes,  315,  319. 
Persepolis,  lor. 
Persia,  conqueror  of,  34. 

—  kings  of,  140. 

—  officials  of,  5,  26. 

—  monuments  of,  39,  360. 

—  supremacy  of,  19. 

Persian   exchequer,   money  in, 
120. 

—  kingdom,     organization     of, 
87,  132,  307,  328. 

end  of,  34. 

Persians,  heavy  drinkers,  310. 

Peters,  245  (n,). 

Petrie,  F.,  196. 

Petition  of  Esther,  335,  342,352. 

Phoenicia,  169. 

Pinches,  235,  360  (n.),  361. 

Pisistratus,  32. 

Place  =  Jewish  quarter,  43. 

Plain,  meaning  of  Hebrew  word 

so  translated,  187,  269. 
Plainly  (distinctly),  92. 
Plataea  and  Mycale,  battle  of, 

32. 
Plural  of  intensity,  148,  195. 
Plutarch,  340, 
Pohlmann,  28. 
Poll  tax,  9,  248. 
Polyglot,  of  Walton,  28. 
Poor,  suffering  and   complaint 

of   in    Jerusalem    in    time   of 

Nehemiah,  198. 


178      EZRA,    NEHEMIAH,    AND    ESTHER 


Population  of  Jerusalem  small, 

214. 
Porters,  in  Temple,  62,  63,  71, 

153,  212. 
Portions,  or  diet,  for  maidens, 

318. 
Postal  service  in  time  of  Xerxes, 

313- 
*  Post-haste,'  329. 
Posts  =  'runners,'  329. 
Pound,  71. 

Praise,  to,  see  Confession. 
Prayer,  spreading  out  of  hands 

during,  138. 
Precious  things,  46. 
Priest,  chief  (high),  53,  59,  114, 

178. 

—  absence  of  at  reading  of  the 
Law,  221. 

Priests,  city  and  country,  61. 

—  dominance  of  in  Chronicles, 

17. 

—  garments  of,  70,  71. 

—  laxity  of,  18,  278. 

—  return  from  exile  of,  60. 

—  chiefs  of,  leading  members  of 
priestly  class,  129. 

Priests  and  Levites,  17,  18,  44, 

7T,  145- 
Princes,  130,  134,  136,  147, 149. 
Proceedings  0/  Society  of  Biblical 

Archaeology,  13,  28,  29,  71. 
Prophecy  =  to  play  the  part  of 

a  prophet,  95. 
Proselytes,  246,  301,  350,  356. 
Province,  55,  307. 
Psalteries  and  harps,  268. 
Pseudo-Smerdis,reign  of,  32,83. 
Ptolemy  I  (Lagos),  34. 

—  II  (Philadelphus),  34. 
Piikhrd,  303. 

Pukhru,  302. 

Pulpit,  221. 

Punic  Wars,  34. 

Pur,  meaning  of  word,  302,  303, 

326. 
Purah  (winepress),  304. 


Purification,     by     priests     and 

Levites,  269. 
Purim,  Feast  of,  291,  293,  296, 

301. 

—  institution  of,  353. 

Qanah  (redeemed),  20 r. 

Qetoret,  279. 

Qoheleth  (Ecclesiastes),  292. 

Queen,  influence  of,  and  deriva- 
tion of  Hebrew  word  so  ren- 
dered, 167. 

Quran,  199. 

Rabbi  ben  Lakish,  293. 

Rabshakeh,  165. 

Rain,  Great,  148. 

Ram  as  guilt  offering,  153. 

Ramah,  58. 

Rashi,  49,  174. 

Rawlinson,  20,  92,  221,  250,254, 
267,  270,  297,  316,  324,  325, 
327,  344.  349,  360  (n.),  363. 

Reading  of  the  Law  by  Ezra, 
156,. 158. 

Reclining  at  meals,  309. 

Records,  Babylonian,  51. 

—  city  (Jerusalem),  15,  152. 

—  Persian,  90,  323,  339. 

—  Temple,  12,  54. 

—  of  the  past,  39,  360. 
Redeemed   (Heb.  Qanah),  201. 

Padah,  164. 

Redundancies     in     Nehemiah, 

204,  206. 
Register,  66  ;  cf.  Lists. 
Rehoboam,  King  of  Israel,  19. 
Rehum,  85,  86,  93,  96,  263. 

—  king's  answer  to,  92. 
Release,  321. 

Relief,  333. 

Religious  centralization,  39. 

Religious  element,  absent  from 

Esther,  but  introduced  in  the 

Greek  additions,  294. 
Remnant,  138,  142. 
Renan,  22,  30,  40,  47,  48,  361. 


INDEX 


379 


Reuss,  20,  30,  40,  47,  48. 

Revenue  ol'  Persian  kingdom, 
327- 

Review  of  Theology  and  Philo- 
sophy, 235. 

Right,  or  fixed  share,  177. 

Ring,  signet,  328. 

Robinson,  Dr.  E.,  172. 

Roll  (clay  tablet),  103. 

Roman  Senate,  92. 

Romans,  war  with  Samnites,  34. 

Roof,  flat,  227. 

Roominess  =  deliverance,  333. 

Rosenzweig,  20,  126. 

Route  taken  by  Zerubbabel,  &c., 
50  ;  and  by  Nehemiah,  169. 

Royal  apparel,  349. 

—  house,  105. 

Ruler  (governor),  136,  175. 

Ruth,  31,  292. 

Ryle,  3>  i3»  21,  43,  48,  50, 
99,  116,  133,  157,  165,  167, 
173,  185,  252,  255,  270,  282, 
283,  292. 

Ryssel,  21,  50,  54,  70,  99,  133, 
156,  197,242,  267,  282,  283, 
286,  299,  308,  322,  355. 

Sabasare,  47. 

Sabbatic  year,  10. 

Sabbath,  observance  of,  8,  31, 
i59j  234. 

Sachau,  Aramaic  Papyri,  32 
(n.),  33  (n-)j  4°  In.),  42,  96, 
102,  103,  107,  146,  161,  170, 
177,  204,  209,  362  (n.),  363. 

Sackcloth,  229,  330. 

Sacrifice,  as  a  meal,  106. 

Sacrifices,  see  Offering. 

Sacrificial  regulations,  72. 

—  S3'stem,  restored  after  the 
exile,  74. 

Sais,  15. 

Salamis,  battle  of,  321. 

Salt,  120. 

—  to  cat,  significance  of  phrase, 
90. 


Samaria,  army  of,  191. 

—  province  of,  170,  260. 

—  Sanballat  Governor  of,  170, 
260. 

—  town  of,  83,  89,  170. 
Samaritan  officials,  92. 

—  opposition  to  Nehemiah,  171, 
206. 

—  party,  81,  94,  160. 

—  party,  secession  of,  33,  178. 

—  Temple,  building  of,  33. 
Samaritans,      broadmindedness 

of,  26,  81,  171,  178. 

—  letter  of  accusation  against 
Jews,  sent  by  to  Artaxerxes 
I,  85. 

—  would  join  in  building  the 
Temple,  their  offer  refused,  80. 

Sanballat,  the  Horonite,  170, 
178,  206,  207. 

—  the  Kuthaean,  179. 
Sanctify  =  to  set  apart,  276. 
Sanabassar,  47. 
Sanskrit,  333. 

Sargon,  42,  82,  83,  176. 

Sarini,  134. 

Sassabassaros,  47. 

Sassanian  kings,  363. 

Satan,  86. 

Satraps,  132,  328. 

Saul,  King  of  Israel,  19. 

Saulcy,  De,  25. 

Saviours  (judges),  239. 

Sayce,  A.  H.,  3,' 21,  39,  47,  70, 

87  (n.),  88  (n.),  103,  233,  248, 

303,  361. 
Sayce-Cowley  Papyri,  32  (n.^, 

85,  88. 
Sceptre,  golden,  333. 
Schechter,  220. 
Scheil,  R.  P.,  363. 
Schick,  173,  177. 
Schlatter,  170. 
Schlegel,  A.  W.  v.,  363. 
Scholz,  A.,  295. 
Schrader,  50,  81,  83,  133,  242, 

360  ^n.). 


38o      EZRA,    NEHEMIAH,    AND    ESTHER 


Schulz,  84,  119,  156,  283,  297. 
Schurer,  36,  44,  250  ;n.). 
Schwally,  304. 
Scribe,  115,  117,  314,  328. 
Sealing  of  the  Covenant,  245. 

—  ring,  328. 

Secretary  of  Sanballat  (To- 
biah?),  206,  207. 

'Seek,'  two  meanings  of,  116, 
129. 

Seganim,  136,  175. 

Sekhikhint,  195. 

Selalim,  195. 

Sellin,  21,  50,  85,  94. 

Semler,  297. 

Senaah,  59. 

Separated  themselves,  those 
who  had,  112,  246. 

Sepulchre  of  David,  186. 

Sepulchres  of  Nehemiah's  an- 
cestors, 66. 

Servant,  171. 

Servants,  i.  e.  Nehemiah's  suite, 
196. 

Service,  127. 

Seven,  a  sacred  number,  1 18. 

Seven  counsellors,  118,  311. 

—  eunuchs,  310. 

—  princes,  311. 
Shaashgaz,  315,  320. 
Shahriar,  319,  363. 
Shdmar,  ndtar  —  to  keep,  141. 
Shebaniah,  263. 
Shecaniah,  263. 

Sheep  Gate,  179,  189,  191. 
Shekel,  9,  129. 
Shelah,  Pool  of,  185. 
Shelemiah,  282. 
Shemaiah,  209. 
Shenazzar,  47. 

Sheshbazzar,  Prince  over  Judah, 
47,  55,  56,  105,  156. 

—  not  identical  with  Zerub- 
babel,  47,  100. 

Shethar-bozenai,  96. 
Shew,  i.e.  report  to,  318. 
Shewbread,  248. 


Shield,  two  words  so  rendered, 

196. 
Shiloakh,  185- 
Shimshai,  85,  86,  96. 
Shishak,  King  of  Tyre,  19. 
Shushan,  see  under  Susa. 

—  fortress,  or  palace  of,  i6r, 
169,  307,  &c. 

Shushanchites,  88. 

Shut  up,  209. 

Siegfried,  13,  48,  58,  66,  98, 
105,  106,  107,  119,  133,  189, 
193,  195,  206,  210,  227,  228, 
230,  254,  260,  267,  272,  286, 

350,  359- 
Signet  ring,  328. 
Silence  of  sixty  years,  113. 
Siloam,  Pool  of,  185. 
Simon    made    high-priest    and 

prince,  34. 
Sin  offering,  110,  132,  249. 
Sinai,  Mt.,  233. 
Singers,  included  in  Levites,  62, 

78,  258. 

—  not  included  in  Levites,  62, 

63,  71- 

Singing  men  and  singing 
women,  69. 

Sira,  Ben,  22. 

5ms,  337. 

Sisinnes,  96. 

Sitnah,  Hebrew  word  =  accusa- 
tion, 86. 

Sivan,  or  third  month,  347. 

Skinner,  J.,  210. 

Sleeplessness  of  the  king,  339. 

Smend,  Rudolph,  52,  60,  6i, 
133,  246,  255. 

Smith,  G.  A.,  134, 147,  170,  171, 
172,  173,  173  (n.)j  177,  189, 
233- 

—  H.  P.,  21. 

—  W.  Robertson,  19,  173,  210, 

277,  353  (n.). 
Sojourners,  229. 
Solidarity  of  nation,  137,  143. 
Solomon,  75,  92. 


INDEX 


381 


Solomon,    height    of  porch    in 
Temple  of,  104. 

—  servants  of,  64. 

Son  =  descendant,  316. 

—  =  grandson  of,  94. 

—  ^  having   the    property  of, 
63,  82. 

—  ^  one  or  more  of  a  specified 
class,  269. 

Sources  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah, 

II. 
South,  Hebrew  terms  for,  271. 
Southern  Kingdom,  45. 
Spears,  195. 
Spencer,  67. 
Spinoza,  297. 
Stade,  10,  48,  68,  89,  98,  133, 

173,  267,  270,  304  (n). 
Staerk,  361. 

Stairs  (near  Jerusalem),  185. 
Stand,  230. 
Statutes,  163. 
Steuemagel,  248. 
Strack,  13. 

Straight  way,  a,  128. 
Straitness  (distress),  333. 
Strange  women,  144,  148,  149, 

152,  155,  156. 
Strangers  =  non-Jews,  229. 
Streane,  323. 
Stud,  348. 

Stuff,  household,  280. 
Sumer,  42. 
Sunrise  and  sunset  in  Palestine, 

197. 
Sure  covenant,  244. 
Susa,   97,    loi,    120,    158,    298, 

306,  307. 

—  fortress  (palace)  of,  169, 316. 
Susiana,  94. 

Swete,  294. 

Swords,  195. 

Syene,  161. 

Synagogue,  Great,  8,  220. 

Synod  of  Jamnia,  3,  13. 

Syria,  169. 

Sythian,  39. 


Tabeel,  85,  86. 

Tabernacles,  Feast  of,  5,  7,  10, 

16,  71,  73,  75,  133,    156,  158, 

218,  225. 
Tablets,  Cuneiform,  91,  96,  102, 

103,  135,  168,  300. 
Talent  of  gold,  130. 

—  of  silver,  120,  129,  327. 
Talmud,  3,  62,  199,  213. 
Taphj  144. 

Tarpehtes,  88. 

Tattenai,  96,  97,  loi,  105, 
108. 

Teachers,  Levites  as,  126. 

Tebet,  or  tenth  month,  152. 

Tekoa,  181, 

Tel-el-Amarna,  clay  tablets 
found  at,  91,  102,  135,  168. 

Temple,  first  (Solomon's),  75, 
80 ;  destroyed  by  Nebu- 
chadnezzar, 99. 

—  second,  Cyrus  authorizes 
rebuilding  of,  46 ;  prepara- 
tions for  rebuilding,  75  ; 
foundation  laid,  76,  100 ; 
work  hindered,  80;  recom- 
menced, 105;  completed,  108 ; 
dedicated,  109. 

—  to  be  rebuilt  to  receive  the 
Messiah,  94. 

—  chambers  or  cells  in,  130. 

—  contributions  towards,  n8 

—  doors  of,  209. 

—  officials  of,  51,  59,  152. 

—  outward  business  of,  258. 

—  poll-tax  for  upkeep  of, 
248. 

—  records  of,  12,  51. 

—  servants  of: — Nethinim,  62, 
63,  64,  71,  121,  127,  190; 
porters,  62,  63,  71,  153,  212; 
singers,  62,  63,  71,  153. 

—  stones,  great,  of,  98. 
Tertu,  9. 
Thackeray,  29. 

Thanks,  to  give,  see  under 
Confession. 


382      EZRA,    NEHEMIAH,    AND    ESTHER 


Thenius,  173. 
Theodotian,  28,  29. 
Thermopylae      and      Salamib, 

battle  of,  32. 
Thompson,  294. 
Thousand  and  One  Nights,  The, 

363. 

Thumb,  306. 

Tiberius,  Roman  Tribune,  34. 

Tiribaz,  340. 

Tirshatha,    66,    70,    156,    224, 

245. 
Tischendorf-Nestle,  294. 
Tishri   (sacred  month),  71,  75, 

15a,  218. 

—  first  day  of,  220. 
Tithe,  18,  252. 

Titus,  arch  of,  at  Rome,  92. 
Tobiah  the  Ammonite,  171,  178, 

206,  207. 
Tolerance     of     early     Persian 

kings,  15,  40,  I02,  360,   362. 
Toll,  90. 
Tomh,  or  Book  of  the  Law,  8, 

9,  10,  II,  115.  293. 
Torrey,  5,  14, 16.  21,  22,  28,  40, 

54,  62,    loi,    III,    133,    177, 

230,  246,  262,  275. 
Tower  of  Furnaces,  184. 

—  Hammeah,  179. 

—  Hananel,  i8o. 
Tradition,  27. 

Transgress,  trespass,  144,  146, 

148,  162. 
Transpotamia,    commander    or 

recorder  of,  86,  96. 

—  governors  and  satraps  of,  169. 

—  Judah  a  part  of,  55. 

—  judges   and    magistrates   in, 
121. 

—  meaning  of  word,  87. 

—  treasury  of,  119. 
Treasurer,  120. 
Treasury,  119. 
Tribe,  52. 
Tribute,  90,  92. 
Trito-Isaiah,  31. 


Trouble,  to.  83. 
Trumpets,  Feast  of,  71. 
Trumpets    blown     by    priests, 

78. 
Twelve,    significance    of    the 

number,  51. 
Tyropoeon  Valley,  173,  185. 

Ukhulgal,  235. 
Umon  Lakish,  261. 
Unclean  land,  140. 
Unwalled  villages,  354. 
Upon,  270. 

Uriah,  high-priest,  181. 
Urim  and  Thummim,  67. 
Ustannai,   Governor  of  Trans- 
potamia, 96. 
Uzahor,  15. 

Valley  Gate,  172,  184,  270. 
Valley  of  Craftsmen,  262. 
Vashti,  303,  310,  314. 
Verb,  impersonal,  see  Indefinite 
Subject. 

—  agreement  of,  357. 
Vernes,  23,  25. 

Verse,  the  longest  in  the  Hagio- 

grapha,  347. 
Vessels  of  banquet,  309. 

—  Temple  restored  by  Cyrus, 
46. 

Viewed,  174. 
Virgins,  315. 
Virgin's   Spring   (Gihon),    185, 

189. 
Vitringa,  20. 

Wady-el-V/ad,  173. 

Wady-er-Rababi,  172,  173. 

Wall,  sense  of  Hebrew  word 
so  rendered,  96. 

Walls,  i.  e.  fences  or  protec- 
tions, 140. 

Wallsof  Jerusalem,  eastern,  177. 

—  north-eastern,  178. 

—  south-eastern,  178. 

—  southern,  1 78. 


INDEX 


383 


Walls  of  Jerusalem,  western, 
178. 

—  completion     of     and     time 
occupied  therewith,  210. 

—  dedication  of,  268. 

—  procession  round,  269. 

—  repairing  of,  Hebrew  word 
explained,  193. 

Walton,  Polyglot  of,  28. 

Ward,  kept  the,  276. 

Warren,  177. 

Watches,  213. 

Water  Gate,  188,  270. 

'  Waw  consecutive'  forms,  41, 

254,316. 
Wedding  feast,  321. 
Weeks,  Feast  of,  10,  75. 
Wellhausen,  9,  14,   19,   26,  40, 

48,  70,94,  96,   115,  116,  242, 

250,  254,  255. 
West,  Hebrew  terms  for,  271. 
Westcott,292. 
Whiston,  28. 
Whitehouse.  31,  32,  165. 
Wildeboer,  292,  299,   304,  325, 

340,  345,  351- 
Wilhelm,  E.,  361. 
Winepress  {piira/t),  304. 
Wise  men,  311. 

Wives, read 'foreign wives,'  145. 
Woman,  low  position  of  in  the 

East,  314. 
Women,  separate  feast  for,  310. 

—  ate  with  men  in  Persia,  297, 

310- 

—  strange,  144,  148,   149,  1.52, 

155)  156. 

—  when  first  put  away,  112. 
Wood-offering,  250. 
Worship,  centralization  of,  74. 
Wright.  F.  F.,  172. 
Writing,  modes  of  and  materials 

for,  103,  168. 

Xenophon,  40. 

Xerxes  I   (Ahasuerus),    extent 
of  kingdom  of,  306. 


Xerxes  I,  letter  sent  to,  84. 

—  name  in  Hebrew,  and  so  on, 
307- 

—  consults  his  wise  men,  311  ; 
dismisses  Vashti,  313 ; 
chooses  Esther,  329  ;  agrees 
to  Haman's  proposal  to 
slaughter  the  Jews,  325  ; 
withdraws  the  edict,  345  ; 
sentences  Haman  to  death, 
344 ;  allows  the  Jews  to 
slaughter  their  enemies,  348, 
350. 

Yahweh,  the  Hebrew  word, 
how  represented  in  English, 
and  so  on,  162. 

—  the  national  God  of  Israel, 
120,  162. 

—  worship  of  by  Samaritans, 
81. 

Yahwism,  68. 

—  favour  shown  to  by  early 
Persian  kings,  102. 

Year,  first  month  of,  152. 

—  sacred  and  secular,  152. 
Yeb,  Jewish  Temple  of  Yahu 

at,  15,  32,  161,  362. 
spared  by  Cambyses,  102. 

Zabbai,  or  Zaccai,  154. 
Zaccur,  i8o. 
Zadok,  282. 
Zadokites,  62. 
Zagmuk,  Feast  of,  302. 
Zamzagu,  158. 
Zanoah  (Zanu'a),  261, 
Zarathustra    (Zoroaster),    360, 

362. 
Zebakh,  19. 
Zeboim,  262. 
Zechariah,   son  of  Iddo,  5,  23, 

94. 
Zeresh,  337. 
Zerubbabel,    first    governor   of 

Judah,  204. 

—  meaning  of  name,  56. 


C  C 


384      EZRA,    NEHEMIAH,   AND   ESTHER 

Zerubbabel,  not  identical  with    |   Zimmern,  9 n.,  165, 302,303,304. 


Sheshbazzar,  47. 

—  thought  to  be  the  expected 
Messiah,  94. 

—  with  Joshua  built  the  altar, 
72  ;  laid  the  foundation  of  the 
Temple,  76 ;  commenced  the 
building  of  the  Temple,  95. 


ZOckler,  108  (n.  2). 

Zoroaster     ;Zarathustra),     39, 

360,  362. 
Zoroastrian,  Cyrus  a,  40,  360. 
Zoroastrianism      (Zarathustra- 

ism),  15,  360. 
Zunz,  4,  20. 


Oxford :   Horace  Hart,  Printer  to  the  University 


J)vemight   Date  D^(Qyernl^ht 

p    '-  O    -      •^    ,     

FACULTY 

1  ryyj  uu  1  • 

\^^<M 

^ 

Jui P, 

i 

i 

1 

1                     1 

!                1 

i 

i 

1 

j 

1                1 

f) 

